Earlier this week, the Trump Administration's US Department of Agriculture announced that it would be revoking the "Roadless Rule," and a certain group of supposed off-road advocates that may or may not have ties to Utah's Senator Mike Lee, who's crusade against public lands will mark him as one of the most hated figures in modern American politics, is calling the revocation a win.
It's not.
The original Roadless Rule "establishes prohibitions on road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting on 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas on National Forest System land," which basically means that the federal government can't just plop a road onto any parcel of public lands it wants to. That, however, is now out the door, as it's become one of the battlegrounds for public land advocates as the administration, as well as those like Mike Lee, want to open it up for timber harvesting and throwing in new roads to access mineral, gas, and oil deposits located on public lands.
It also helps them open it up to see those tracts of land sold or leased off. See where I'm going with this?
However, despite this being very bad for public land owners, i.e. every single American, the Blue Ribbon Coalition out of Utah, whose executive director used to work for Mike Lee, is calling the repeal of the roadless rule a win for off-roaders everywhere. It's absolutely not, nor should we as public land advocates or off-roaders be celebrating the opening of these forest areas to extractive industries.
This isn't benefiting us, it's benefiting those who'd see these areas strip-mined of their natural beauty. The thing we go off-roading to witness.
According to the USDA's press release, "This rule is overly restrictive and poses real harm to millions of acres of our national forests. In total, 30% of National Forest System lands are impacted by this rule. For example, nearly 60% of forest service land in Utah is restricted from road development and is unable to be properly managed for fire risk. In Montana, it is 58%, and in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the largest in the country, 92% is impacted. This also hurts jobs and economic development across rural America. Utah alone estimates the roadless rule alone creates a 25% decrease in economic development in the forestry sector."
These are just blatant lies, as our friends at Outdoor Life point out, stating "Fire mitigation is also already legal in roadless areas. USDA’s own data indicates that nearly 85% of wildfires are human caused, and 90% of those begin within a half-mile of a road. Meanwhile, a 2007 study found that wildfires are overwhelmingly correlated with roads. Fewer than 3% of all wildfires start in wilderness or backcountry areas."
Yet, Blue Ribbon Coalition is parroting Mike Lee and the administration's lines, telling their followers that this is a win for fire mitigation and off-roaders everywhere, as it gives them access to these locales while preventing wildfires. But clearly that's not the case with even the most cursory of glances at the issue. Likewise, one of the chief touching points made by the USDA's press release on the subject specify the Tongrass National Forest in Alaska, which touched off a massive fight amongst conservationists everywhere when the Trump Administration attempted to mine the area the last go around, and is likely to never be accessed by the vast majority of Lower 48-bound off-roaders.
Legal battles ensued over the Tongrass, a public told the Administration to take a hike, and a halt was achieved thanks to folks like Backcountry Hunters & Anglers who fought them tooth and nail. Something the group is still doing.
"The Roadless Rule was never about closing roads or locking people out," says Kaden McArthur, BHA’s Director of Policy and Government Relations, adding, "It allows for exceptional backcountry recreation and includes exceptions for access to inholdings, mineral leases, and timber projects that reduce fire risk or benefit wildlife habitat. But let’s be clear: our national forests already have twice as many miles of roads as the entire U.S. National Highway System. Repealing the Roadless Rule isn’t about improving forest management—it’s about expanding a development network that threatens intact landscapes hunters, anglers, and wildlife can’t afford to lose."
So again, this isn't a win for off-roaders, who likely wouldn't be able to access these places if roads were added. Why, because the federal government is aiming to sell these places to logging and mineral and extractive industries, which wouldn't let the likes of you and me onto them. And, like always, there are ways to fight for our public lands, no matter if there are off-road trails or not. Here's how.
Here's How to Reach Out to Your Senators
You can call the Senate's main switchboard at (202) 224-3121, a number I've been repeatedly calling for the last week. You can go through The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Howl for Wildlife, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, all of who have made it extremely easy to tell your elected representative what you think of all this BS.
And you can contact your representatives directly here by email.
