Federal officials are preparing to overturn a long-contested Clinton-era regulation that limits logging and roadbuilding in large portions of the West, including Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the world's largest remaining old-growth temperate rainforest. Critics worry the move to eliminate the "Roadless Rule" will increase wildfires while hurting wildlife and biodiversity. President Donald Trump has ordered his administration to increase logging, calling it a matter of critical national importance. As part of Trump's March 1 executive order, officials are reviewing what existing regulations can be rolled back or eliminated to spur timber production, along with returning more power to local Forest Service rangers.

"This administration is dedicated to removing burdensome, outdated, one-size-fits-all regulations that not only put people and livelihoods at risk but also stifle economic growth in rural America," Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement announcing her plan to eliminate the rule.

Federal officials say the rule first implemented during the Clinton presidency has raised wildfire danger by making it harder for foresters and timber companies to thin out overgrown forests and build fire breaks. The rule essentially banned new road construction in an area equivalent to the size of Florida, allowed rangers to treat large areas as wilderness with even stricter use limits. The rule has been subject to repeated challenges, and some states, including Colorado, developed their own local versions that are exempt from the change.

The plan is now undergoing a mandatory 21-day public comment period.

"The forests we know today are not the same as the forests of 2001," Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said in a statement. "They are dangerously overstocked and increasingly threatened by drought, mortality, insect-borne disease, and wildfire. It's time to return land management decisions where they belong ‒ with local Forest Service experts who best understand their forests and communities."

Critics of the plan say it will likely have the reverse impact of the stated goal of reducing fire danger in thick forests. A study by the Pacific Biodiversity Institute found that nearly 97% of human-caused wildfires start within 1/2 mile of a road, and federal data shows that humans are responsible for causing at least 85% of all wildfires. And critics say logging the Tongass will enrich a few companies at the cost of losing rare biodiversity across an area the size of Maryland. They also worry that increased logging and new roads will hurt drinking water quality and fish habitats at a time when Trump has slashed staffing for the Forest Service. "Gutting the Roadless Rule ‒ which has protected our forests for 25 years ‒ would be the single largest rollback of conservation protections in our nation's history," Tracy Stone-Manning, the president of The Wilderness Society, said in a statement. "Americans cherish their public lands and deserve leaders who protect them for future generations, not give them away to corporations that exploit them."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Construction and logging set to ramp up in ancient national forest

Reporting by Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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