USDA proposes repealing 2001 Roadless Rule in national forests

WASHINGTON, D.C. (FOX Carolina) - U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins said the U.S. Forest Service filed a proposal Tuesday to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.

The rule is a national policy that restricts road construction and commercial timber harvesting across tens of millions of acres of national forest land.

Secretary Rollins criticized the 25-year-old rule as a “one-size-fits-all” restriction that has hindered forest management and created barriers to wildfire prevention.

“Our forests can’t afford another decade of inaction. Across the country, we’ve watched preventable conditions – overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease – turn healthy landscapes into tinderboxes,” said Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. “For too long, outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities. Today, we filed a proposal to restore authority to local forest managers who know the land best, removing the barriers that have kept them from doing the work the land demands. It’s time to turn the page on the failed roadless rule and return our forests to health and productivity.”

Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz emphasized that more than 40% of inventoried roadless areas, primarily in the Western U.S., carry a high or very high wildfire hazard potential, with only 5% receiving fuel reduction treatments since 2014.

Officials noted that rescinding the national rule does not mandate logging or road construction, but rather shifts management decisions to local national forest officers based on local resource conditions.

The proposal drew immediate opposition from conservation advocates. The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) warned that repealing the rule would threaten public lands, imperil rare wildlife, and open pristine areas to extractive industries like mining and timber production.

“People in the Southeast and across the country want a place to get away from the noise and commotion of roads and development,” said Sam Evans, leader of SELC’s National Forests and Parks Program. “Getting rid of it will degrade popular recreation areas, imperil already-rare wildlife, and do long-lasting harm to our national forests as well as the communities and local economies that depend on them.”

The SELC added that the existing 2001 rule already includes exceptions allowing forest managers to remove dangerous wildfire fuels, which the agency has used for years.

According to the SELC, South Carolina contains relatively little designated roadless acreage, about 8,000 acres total, making its protection particularly critical due to its rarity. Neighboring North Carolina holds roughly 172,000 roadless acres across its national forests.

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public feedback on the proposal and its draft environmental impact statement. Members of the public can submit comments on Regulations.gov through midnight on Sept. 21.

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