Make Forests Manageable Again

The United States Forest Service created an environmental catastrophe when it issued the "Roadless Rule" in the final ten days of the Clinton administration. The lame-duck decree, which has now been in effect for over a quarter century, unilaterally roped off nearly 60 million acres of federal lands from effective management, including 3.2 million acres in Wyoming.

President Donald Trump's Department of Agriculture has now formally moved to bring this environmental calamity to an end. But that is not enough to protect our National Forests in the long run. On Wednesday, I introduced legislation to codify the President's efforts, thereby preventing a future administration from reversing Republican progress on legitimate conservation and resource management.

The Roadless Rule eliminated access, management and use of 30% of all National Forests, which total 192 million acres, or about 3% of the total land mass across the lower 48 states. The consequence of this move was as predictable as it has been destructive. Road restrictions have created overgrown and monolithic forests that are more vulnerable to beetle outbreaks and other insect infestations, while excess fuels have been building up massive tinder boxes just waiting for predictable lightning strikes in our arid regions.

The collection of images below document the artificial proliferation of thick dense forests on federal land following these flawed management policies. The photographs presented in Ernest Grafe and Paul Hosted's "Exploring with Custer: The 1874 Black Hills Expedition" illustrate the transformation of America's forests from naturally sparsely populated tree and other vegetation into what are now combustible petri dishes where parasitic beetles thrive. Bureaucratic prohibitions on roads have sacrificed our ability to conduct the surgical maintenance necessary to prevent problematic overgrowth.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins explained last summer how "instead of protecting forests," the rule "trapped them in a cycle of neglect and devastation."

"To date, we've seen more than 8 million acres of Roadless Areas burn," wrote Rollins. "To put that into perspective, the average acreage lost to wildfire each year has more than doubled since 2001."

In the quest to provide President Clinton with a "legacy," the USFS rushed the Roadless Rule through the NEPA process leaving an ash-stained legacy of environmental self-destruction in its wake. In fact, nine of America's ten most catastrophic wildfires have occurred since the Roadless Rule was handed down. The consequences will stay with us for generations. We can now say with certainty, in other words, that this experiment in forest management has failed, and it is time to change course.

Well over 1/3 of our National Forests have been "managed" for 25 years with no plans for road construction, and it has become almost impossible to cultivate a reliable timber supply in those areas. Rural communities are being robbed of family-supporting salaries. Maintenance backlogs have continued to grow as entire regions remain inaccessible. Forest managers will need years to rebuild the necessary primitive infrastructure to eliminate excess fuels and exterminate insect infestations killing trees.

Clean drinking water for millions is also under threat of contamination from colossal conflagrations. The U.S. National Forest System is the source of drinking water for 80 million Americans. That makes our forests the single most important source of clean water in the United States. According to the USDA, however, burned regions release 350 to 450% more sediment into our reservoirs than do managed timber harvests, and 3,800 municipal watersheds are now at risk.

There are few land use regulation that are more emblematic of the agenda-driven administrative state than the Clinton Roadless Rule. The one-size-fits-all approach was rammed through the rulemaking process within 13 months from start to finish without any regard for the unique nature of each individual forest. Regulators ignored the physical aspects, management considerations, economic issues, vegetation, hydrology, geography, wildlife needs, fire risks, and the cultural dynamics that define every National Forest. By treating forests in Wyoming the same as those in North Carolina and Puerto Rico, the federal government ignored Congress' demand under the National Forest Management Act to consider local needs. In fact, the Roadless Rule was also implemented in violation of the 1897 Organic Act, Wilderness Act, and National Environmental Policy Act.

The federal government overstepped its authority and compromised National Forests as havens for clean drinking water and timber, as well as recreational and spiritual opportunities for American families. We cannot manage what we cannot access. Our forests are the lungs of the planet, and we have prohibited ourselves from treating the patient. Repealing the Roadless Rule is the first step to restoring responsible land management and saving ourselves from environmental suicide.

Thanks to the election of President Trump and a Republican Congress, my colleagues have an opportunity to join me in permanently repealing one of the most destructive regulations in American environmental history.