Roadless Rollback Sparks Massive Response, Industry Support (1)

Nearly 224,000 people and organizations spoke out and mostly opposed the Trump administration’s plan to scrap protections from logging and road-building on more than 44 million acres of national forests.

But the timber and mining industries and some local governments called for opening up vast swaths of undeveloped national forests in order to give miners and loggers more access, according to public comments that were due Sept. 19.

The US Forest Service received 223,860 comment submissions on its proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule. An analysis by the Center for Western Priorities, an environmental group, showed that about 99% of the comments oppose rescinding the Roadless Rule.

Public comments totaled 625,737 when including identical submissions aggregated as part of environmental group “action alerts,” said Becca Bowe, a communications officer for Earthjustice, a nonprofit law firm representing environmental groups.

The rollback is among the current proposals posted to Regulations.gov that have received the most comments. By comparison, the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposal to reconsider the 2009 Endangerment Finding for the greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, for which comments are due Sept. 22, received less than 700 comment submissions by midday on the due date.

The Forest Service didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about the level of opposition to the Roadless Rule rollback and how it might factor into its final decision, expected soon.

The agency has justified rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule because President Donald Trump wants to cut down forests, boost domestic wood products, and reduce wildfire risks across the US.

Two separate rules protecting roadless areas in Idaho and Colorado will remain in place.

The rollback reflects the Agriculture Department’s new focus on expanding logging, boosting rural economic opportunities, and cutting regulations, the agency said in August. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the plan in June and the Forest Service said it would prepare an environmental impact statement on the rollback.

‘Unlawful Exercise of Power’

The Roadless Rule has helped block mining in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the world’s largest remaining coastal temperate rainforest.

“The Tongass contains billions of dollars of discovered and undiscovered critical and rare earth minerals,” the Alaska Miners Association said in its comments on the rollback. “The 2001 Roadless Rule is a barrier to road access to mining claims, exploration and development on the Tongass National Forest which should be removed to improve access to the Tongass’s incredible discovered and undiscovered mineral wealth.”

The Roadless Rule has blocked road access to 58 million acres of forest protected under the three roadless rules, “stifling the development of and access to new energy opportunities,” four attorneys for the Pacific Legal Foundation, led by Frank Garrison, and Crystal Enkvist, executive director of the Alaska Power Association, wrote in a comment letter.

The rule, they said, is an “unlawful exercise of power,” and should be rescinded.

Uniform restrictions in roadless areas threaten counties because some include wildfire-prone forests with little access, Matthew Chase, CEO of the National Association of Counties, said in comments supporting the rollback.

“The rescission of the Roadless Rule presents an opportunity to reset the federal-local partnership in forest management,” he said.

Aaron Weiss, deputy director of the Center for Western Priorities, said in a statement that the rollback is “a giveaway to timber and mining companies.”

“Throwing open our forests for clear cuts and strip mines will increase wildfire risk, decrease water quality, degrade habitat, and harm the backcountry that outdoorsmen and women hold dear,” he said.