MISSOULA — It’s no secret that Montana is known for its sprawling national forests, many of them containing a unique sound — the sound of the wind rushing through the trees and wildlife roaming about.
And oftentimes, there’s also a lack of certain sounds — the sounds of motorized vehicles.
But the sounds of motorized vehicles may soon be coming to the national forests as the Trump Administration has proposed repealing the 2001 Roadless Rule.
“I think we've managed to preserve a lot of forests, a lot of wilderness, a lot of wildlife, by not adding roads to already very extensive road-covered forests. So I think we should keep it,” said one recreationist at the Rattlesnake trailhead.
With the proposal, some fear that with the proposal to repeal the roadless rule, the serenity of the forests may be taken away.
“It's a bad idea. I just don't like this administration's direction on really undermining, taking away all the protections we had for wild areas, wilderness or even just primitive areas. They just cut back on staff to help enforce those things anyway. And yeah, totally appalled and against it,” said another recreationist.
The roadless rule was enacted in 2001 by the U.S. Forest Service, a regulation that, according to the Forest Service, was created to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the nation’s forests and grasslands, all to meet the needs of present and future generations.
“I think the roadless rule keeps the public, keeps our public lands open for the wildlife, for the people to enjoy. And once you start putting roads through there, it's gonna change the whole environment,” said another recreationist.
Steve Running is a former University of Montana forest ecology and climate professor, and he has been closely watching the repeal process. He saw the original need for the rule as it was during a time when the logging industry was busy within the national forests, often with poor forest management practices.
“The roadless rule goes back decades and it does protect forests from a lot of human incursion and now that we're not logging nearly as much as we did 30-40 years ago, we just don't need a whole lot more roads and so I've found that the roadless rule is a useful way of just keeping unnecessary roads from being built,” said Running.
For forest managers, like Erin Clark, strategic development and partnerships director for Montana Forest Consultants, the proposed repeal comes at a time when it may not be a priority worth pursuing.
“In the forest management space, road packages in forest projects are not often what we're really interested in," Clark said. "They add a lot of cost to forest management projects and from the operator side of things for loggers and forest consulting companies like ours. They often increase the complexity and reduce the value of the project work. So adding new roads to our system has a lot of challenges, also including the fact that the Forest Service does not currently have a budget that allows them to adequately mensch the roads that they already have. So there's a lot of questions around why would we add more?"
In a statement, Representative Ryan Zinke said, “The rescission of the outdated Roadless Rule is a victory for Montana, public lands, and forest management everywhere," said Zinke. "As I've long maintained, one of the biggest obstacles to proper forest management and wildfire prevention has been unnecessary and overbearing regulations like this one. If you can’t build a road, you can't fight fires, you can't harvest trees, and you can't properly take care of our national heritage held in our public lands. And if you can’t access the land, you can’t recreate on the land. I applaud the President and Secretary Rollins for their initiative to allow real and needed work to be done on our national forest land.”
In a post on X, Representative Troy Downing said, “The USDA’s move to rescind the Roadless Rule is a critical step toward responsible forest management that will help reduce wildfire risk, protect watersheds, and support rural economies.”
Senator Steve Daines said, “This is another huge win for Montana and forest management, and shows that the Trump administration is committed to Montana-First priorities. By rolling back the outdated Roadless Rule, we’ll be better equipped to manage our Montana forests and protect our communities. I applaud Secretary Rollins for this decision to give our local forests more to manage our state’s national forests.”
Senator Tim Sheehy said, “This is another act of commonsense leadership from the Trump Administration to help fix our wildfire crisis, improve forest management, and unleash Montana’s resource economy. I want to thank Secretary Rollins for her work in empowering folks in Montana and rural America to better protect our communities and make our forests healthier and more resilient.”
The repeal is currently open to public comment until Sept. 19. To leave a comment, head to the Federal Register.
