Roadless Rule protects forests; Trump wants to eliminate it

By Bill Berry
The Capital Times
September 8, 2025
Category: Forestry
Region: United States, US East

STEVENS POINT, Wisconsin — The Trump administration blitzkrieg on the environment is rumbling along, and 45 million acres of remote national forest lands are in their sights. These are areas protected by the Roadless Rule, adopted in 2001. …The administration is rushing the public comment period, with a deadline of Sept. 19. …There’s a good chance the administration has already made up its mind. But there’s something to say in this moment about being on the right side of history. …Why should Wisconsin care about the Roadless Rule, which is a huge deal in the West? Mike Dombeck, a Wisconsin native, was chief of the USDA Forest Service when the rule was adopted.” …It’s an important niche between wilderness and development. …It took a long time for us to recognize that suppressing fire actually contributes to uncontrollable wildfires. Fire has been a forest management tool for eons.

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