Defend the Badger-Two Medicine and other Montana Roadless Areas

Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said the process to rescind the Roadless Rule would begin in October and would include an opportunity for public comment.

This decision, which has to go through a formal rulemaking process with public comment, could lead to dramatically accelerated, unsustainable and ecologically damaging resource extraction, including timber, oil and gas exploration, and coal mining, on 58 million acres of U.S. Forest Service lands.

Today, 37% of Montana’s Forest Service lands, about 6.4 million acres, are Inventoried Roadless Areas that provide clean water, wildlife habitat, and outstanding backcountry recreation, including over 102,000 acres in the Badger-Two Medicine and another 42,000 acres along the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. The Rule is widely considered one of the most successful conservation policies of the last 25 years. A March 2019 poll by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that three out of four respondents said they supported keeping roadless forest protections.  .

Thankfully, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Representatives Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) and Andrea Salinas (OR-06), along with many other members of Congress from both chambers, have introduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act that can codify the 2001 Roadless Rule into law once and for all.

But it will need the support of as many members of Congress as possible, including Montana’s.

Montana Senators Steve Daines and Tim Sheehy, along with Representatives Ryan Zinke and Troy Downing, are critical to protecting our public roadless areas forever, but they will need some convincing. They think it’s “another huge win for Montana and forest management.” Senator Daines added that, “By rolling back the outdated Roadless Rule, we’ll be better equipped to manage our Montana forests and protect our communities.”

Far from outdated, Montanans and our Forests need this Rule, and the protections it provides for clean drinking water, wildlife and backcountry recreation more than ever.