MONTANA — A federal proposal to roll back the Roadless Rule opened a new debate over how national forest land in Montana should be managed.
The rule had limited new roads and timber harvesting across millions of acres of national forest land for 25 years. The Trump administration wanted to rescind it and argued local forest managers needed more flexibility to reduce overgrowth and wildfire danger.
The Roadless Rule did not make those forests completely off-limits. It generally restricted new roads and logging in undeveloped areas across Montana and the West.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said ending the rule would give local forest managers more room to address wildfire risk. Gov. Greg Gianforte supported the proposal and said the rule had limited management on nearly 60 percent of Forest Service land in Montana.
Rescinding the rule would not automatically allow new roads or logging.
Emilie Ritter with the Greater Yellowstone Coalition warned the change could put undeveloped land at risk.
“Millions of acres of spectacular, undeveloped, beautiful places are at risk of development. And these are places where families have gone hiking or hunting or backpacking for a generation, and they're the source of our drinking water, it's where iconic wildlife live, the heart of our outdoor recreation. And they do a lot to prevent wildfires out West," said Emilie Ritter, director of communications for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition said the rule protected about 10 million acres in Montana and Wyoming. The group argued that more roads could harm water sources, split wildlife habitat and bring more people into places where fires could start.
The group also questioned adding roads while the Forest Service already had a multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog.
Public comments were being accepted through September 21 before the Forest Service moved toward a final decision.
Originally published on montanarightnow.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
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