U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced plans to roll back the Clinton-era "roadless rule" this summer.
“Rescinding this rule will remove prohibitions on road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest on nearly 59 million acres of the National Forest System, allowing for fire prevention and responsible timber production,” according to a June statement by the USDA.
The conservation group EcoFlight took passengers this week on flights over areas near the southern Oregon border that could be affected by the rule change.
Flying south from Medford, Haleigh Martin with KS Wild pointed out roadless areas along the Siskiyou Crest.
“It's just really amazing for us and our recreation abilities,” Martin said, “for wildlife and the habitat they have, the space they have to roam for their species’ survival.”
Opponents of the rule change say building new roads in protected areas increases fire risks and harms wildlife habitat.
About 2 million acres of federal land in Oregon are designated as roadless.
“The way that this is set up is to kind of link the roadless areas adjacent to current wilderness, expanding the opportunity for the flora and fauna to have a bigger range,” said Gary Kraft, a pilot with EcoFlight, flying over roadless areas near Oregon's Red Buttes Wilderness.
Supporters of the rollback say more roads will help firefighters reach hard-to-access areas and bring economic opportunities through logging.
“The rule was pushed through in the final days of the Clinton administration, backed by environmental activists in Washington, not the people that actually live near these forests and suffer from the smoke,” Rep. Doug LaMalfa, R-Calif., said on the House floor in July. “It’s led to overgrown, unhealthy forests and prevented rural counties from using this land to create jobs.”
The public comment period for the rule change ends on Sept. 20. The federal government will then need to conduct an environmental impact assessment before it can take effect.
