EAST GLACIER PARK, Mont. – On Friday, August 29th right before the start of a long holiday weekend, the US Department of Agriculture formally initiated the process to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a landmark conservation policy aimed at protecting the health and biodiversity of America’s forests and watersheds.  

The Roadless Rule, as it is better known, limits new road construction, road reconstruction, and commercial timber harvest on about 45 million acres of wild, undeveloped national forest lands across the country, including more than 6 million acres in Montana (another 13 million acres of national forest lands in Colorado and Idaho are protected by separate rules not subject to this rescission notification). The Rule does provide some exceptions, including for ecological restoration or to address the risk of severe wildfires.

In northern Montana, some of the national forest lands that could be opened to road building and logging in the future if the Rule is rescinded include the Badger-Two Medicine – an area sacred to the Blackfeet Nation, most of the Flathead National Forest adjacent to US-2 between Marias Pass and West Glacier, most of the Swan Range bordering the Flathead Valley including the Jewel Basin Hiking Area, and much of the central and northern Whitefish Range.

In response to the announcement, Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance issued the following statement from Peter Metcalf, Executive Director:

“The Roadless Rule provides vital protections against harmful road building and logging for some of the wildest, most beautiful and ecologically or culturally sensitive national forest lands in northwest Montana. These roadless areas may not be as glitzy or well known as Glacier National Park or the Bob Marshall Wilderness, but they are every bit as important to maintaining healthy ecosystems and intact watersheds, to the conservation and recovery of fish and wildlife species like elk, grizzly bears or bull trout, or as wild places for people to hunt, fish or explore.  Rescinding the Rule is the exact opposite of responsible, common sense forest management. Rather it is all about turning the public’s forests over to corporations to exploit for profit. Our water will be dirtier, our freezers emptier, and our air smokier if this Rule is rescinded.”

The public has until Sept. 19th, a mere three weeks to comment on this initial phase of the proposed rescission. The USDA plans to release a draft Environmental Impact Statement in March and a final decision on the rescission by the end of the year.