Federal Roadless Rule on the road out
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — On June 23, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will be rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule.
The Roadless Rule was established in 2001, and prevents roads from being built on certain parcels of Federal land. On the USDA website, they claim the rule is outdated, and "goes against the mandate of the USDA Forest Service to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation's forests and grasslands."
Rollins claim that canceling this federal rule will allow critical road access for the purposes of fire prevention and responsible timber production.
The USDA says the action is meant to be in alignment with President Trump's executive order 14192, "Unleashing Prosperity through Deregulation."
John Robison of the Idaho Conservation League thinks eliminating the Roadless Rule is a step in the wrong direction.
The National Park Service says 85% of wildfires are caused by humans. Because of this, Robison says "Punching more roads and logging old growth trees far far away isn't going to do anything protect homes, or actually even improve the economy."
The state of Idaho is likely to be relatively unaffected by the change due to the state having it's own roadless rule. Created in 2008, the rule was created with the input of various conservation groups and organizations, and held the support of the Idaho Governor at the time, Jim Risch.
On his website, Risch says, "Public land management does not work when Congress passes a top-down mandate. Instead, land users in each state should be allowed to come together and craft their own plans of management like Idaho's Roadless Rule."
In order to rescind the federal Roadless Rule, several processes must be gone through. This includes taking a look at environmental impact according to the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).
The USDA will also be looking for public comment down the line as part of their rule making process, in accordance with the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
