Roadless Rule

Nearly 45-million acres of national forest lands that have been protected for 25 years could open up to logging. The Trump administration Tuesday proposed a new regulation that would remove what’s known as the “roadless rule.” MTPR’s Aaron Bolton spoke with Ellis Juhlin from the Montana Free Press about the latest in a decades-old fight over where the federal government allows logging.

The Roadless Rule is back on the chopping block. And what happens next could have really big implications for Montana, the region, and the country – for grizzlies, for other endangered species, and for entire ecosystems. What do we lose, or gain, when our bedrock environmental regulations go away, along with public input on how it all happens?

Thousands of Montanans are petitioning the federal government to hold public meetings on a proposal to rescind roadless protections. The change would impact more than 6 million acres of forest lands across the state.

The Trump administration wants to repeal what’s known as the “Roadless Rule.” The policy prohibits logging and road building on roughly 60 million acres of national forests. A three week public comment period closed last week. Most public comments opposed changing the rule.