The Trump administration will strip protections that prevent logging on nearly 59 million acres of National Forest System lands, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday.
Rollins made the announcement at a meeting of the Western Governors’ Association in New Mexico.
In a press release, the Trump administration described the current rule, which prevents road building logging and mining in large swaths of national forest, as “overly restrictive.”
“Once again, President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule,” Rollins said in statement.
“It is abundantly clear that properly managing our forests preserves them from devastating fires and allows future generations of Americans to enjoy and reap the benefits of this great land,” she added.
The rule in question, known as the Roadless Rule, was first issued by the outgoing Clinton administration in 2001.
The Clinton administration said at the time it was prohibiting cutting down these trees because doing so would have “the greatest likelihood of altering and fragmenting landscapes, resulting in immediate, long-term loss of roadless area values and characteristics.”
Areas currently protected by the Roadless Rule include 92 percent of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, where eagles, bears, salmon can be found alongside vast Alaskan vistas. The rule also protects 60 percent of forest service land in Utah and 58 percent of forest service land in Montana.
Conservation advocates blasted the announcement.
“Stripping our national forests of roadless rule protections will put close to 60 million acres of wildlands across the country on the chopping block. That means polluting our clean air and drinking water sources to pad the bottom lines of timber and mining companies,” said Alex Craven, the Sierra Club’s forest campaign manager, in a written statement.
