This Is How We Manage Forests Better
By U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins
Every year, wildfires destroy nearly 100 million trees across our national forests. These losses aren’t just an environmental tragedy. They are a national failure.
Every acre charred represents a missed opportunity to strengthen American industry, protect families and safeguard our drinking water. Yet, one-half of our forested acres are effectively off limits, impeding the actions and tools we use to protect them and ourselves.
We’ve watched this crisis unfold for decades while Washington, D.C. stood by and allowed it to happen.
Not on President Donald Trump’s watch.
This is why, on June 23, I announced the rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule.
Established with the stated goal of protecting remote forest areas from development, this Clinton-era rule has become a bureaucratic barrier to action, hamstringing U.S. Forest Service (USFS) officials.
Instead of protecting forests, it has trapped them in a cycle of neglect and devastation. To date, we’ve seen more than eight million acres of roadless areas burn. To put this into perspective, the average acreage lost to wildfire each year has more than doubled since 2001.
For almost 25 years, road construction has been halted. Trees have not been thinned, and firefighters have been unable to reach fires in time to slow their spread.
Our forest supervisors know the treatments needed. It’s time we untied their hands instead of hindering their every move.
These restrictions have impacted every wildfire-prone state.
In Montana, 58 percent of national forest lands have been off limits to commonsense management to prevent this tragedy. In Utah, it’s nearly 60 percent, and in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the largest in the country, 92 percent has been taken off the table.
The rule was supposed to protect drinking water – it failed. More than 3,800 municipal watersheds are now at risk. For example, burned areas produce 350 to 450 percent more sediment in reservoirs than managed timber harvests. This directly threatens the water supply.
The cost of this inaction is staggering.
National forests are the single most important source of drinking water in the U.S. Eighty million Americans across thousands of communities and in large cities depend on the clean drinking water flowing from our National Forest System – valued at more than $8 billion.
The Roadless Rule was supposed to reduce the maintenance cost of USFS roads – it failed. Deferred maintenance has remained unchanged.
Instead, the rule made it nearly impossible to establish a reliable timber supply, cutting off access to family-supporting jobs and revenue streams for remote communities.
It also made it harder to maintain forest roads which serve hunters, anglers and first responders.
Our forests need thoughtful management, not neglect.
Under Trump’s leadership, we are changing course. We are restoring authority to local line officers, cutting red tape and giving USFS the ability to manage the lands effectively.
The Roadless Rule has failed. It’s time to turn the page. Let’s give forest stewards the tools they need. Let’s unlock America’s resources, protect our communities and build a stronger, safer future for our forests.
Brooke Rollins is the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. This opinion column was originally published in Deseret News on June 24.
