LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced Monday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture intends to rescind a rule that has prohibited new roads and timber harvest on 30% of National Forest System lands, including portions in the Truckee-Tahoe basin.

“The intent of the 2001 Roadless Rule is to provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System in the context of multiple-use management,” the USDA Forest Service’s website states. Not only does the rule prohibit new roads and timber harvest on these areas, it keeps them open for a range of recreational activities, including climbing, hiking, mountain biking, paddling, and backcountry skiing.

These inventoried roadless areas constitute close to a quarter (23%) of Forest Service-Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit lands and a combined 80,000-plus acres on Tahoe National Forest and Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit forest, according to maps on the Forest Service’s website.

Acres near Luther Pass are within the protected areas, which is where species such as the Sierra Nevada red fox (federally endangered) and the American marten (USDA Forest Service sensitive species) inhabit. The protected areas also expand to locations near the Echo Lakes, skirt Desolation Wilderness, cover portions of the Tahoe Rim Trail, and encompass Freel Peak, the tallest peak in the Tahoe area.

According to the USDA, the recision aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order 14192, Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation, aimed at alleviating what the order calls unnecessary regulatory burdens in order to promote prudent financial management.

The rule rollback will remove the 25 year prohibitions on road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest, which Secretary Rollins believes will allow for fire prevention and responsible timber production on lands where close to half the acreage is on high or very high wildfire risk areas.

“Once again, President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule,” said Secretary Rollins. “This move opens a new era of consistency and sustainability for our nation’s forests. 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.”

The USDA also states rescinding this rule will allow this land to be managed at the local forest level with more flexibility to take action to reduce wildfire risk and help protect surrounding communities and infrastructure.

While the USDA sees the call as a move that sustains the health, diversity, and productivity of the nation’s forests, wilderness conservation and recreation conversation groups see it as a threat to valued backcountry recreation areas, as well as vital wildlife and fish habitat that offers clean water and other important ecosystem services across the country.

These groups also foresee impacts to recreation, a major part of the economy in the west.

The Roadless Rule was established at the end of President Clinton’s term in January 2001.

“Any attempt to revoke it is an attack on the air and water we breath and drink, abundant recreational opportunities which millions of people enjoy each year, havens for wildlife and critical buffers for communities threatened by increasingly severe wildfire seasons,” Josh Hicks said, conservation campaigns director at The Wilderness Society.

Before rescinding the rule, the action will require preparation of environmental analysis, compliance with the Endangered Species Act, tribal consultation and coordination with affected states. 

The USDA states it will provide more information as the rescission process gets underway.