WRN Deep Dive: Trump Administration wants to rescind Roadless Rule in National Forests
The Trump administration plans to rescind the decades old Roadless Rule in National Forests, to decrease wildfire risks. Elizabeth Ward with Wisconsin’s John Muir Sierra Club Chapter says the rule was the subject of extensive public input prior to enactment in 2001....
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WRN Deep Dive: Trump Administration wants to rescind Roadless Rule in National Forests
The Trump administration plans to rescind the decades old Roadless Rule in National Forests, to decrease wildfire risks. Elizabeth Ward with Wisconsin’s John Muir Sierra Club Chapter says the rule was the subject of extensive public input prior to enactment in 2001.
Unfortunately, we have a lot less than that. So the USDA has opened a comment period that closes in mid-September. So people can comment on their website where they announced the plans to rescind the roadless rule. And that shortened comment period and lack of public hearings means more people have to go and comment than there was in getting the rule in the first place.
Michael Dombeck is a Wisconsin native, and UW Stevens Point alumnus. Dombeck was directly involved in developing the roadless rule while leading the U.S. Forest Service. He doubts rescinding it will have much effect in decreasing wildfires.
“All the data and the information, even the Forest Service’s own data published by their researchers do not support that. In fact, the fact is that most of the fire starts are human caused, some 80%. And of those fires that are ignited, about 97% are put out in initial attack. But those that get away the 2 to 3% that get away are almost always under very extreme weather conditions with high winds, very low humidities, and are literally explosive in nature and become very intense. The bottom line is the more people you have using an area in very dry conditions by increasing human activity in these areas, the data shows we’re going to see an increase in fire starts.”
UW Stevens Point Assistant Professor in Forest Ecology, Michael Tiller says while there may be some upside to allowing temporary roads, he also echoes Dombeck’s concerns.
So you run a kind of a double-edged sword, if you will, because the more people you get in there, the more opportunity you’re gonna get for basically starting fires.”
There are some 69,000 roadless acres representing less than 5 percent of Wisconsin’s Chequamegon-Nicollet National Forest. That may sound like a lot, but Sierra Club’s Ward notes that is just a fraction of the forest’s 1.5 million acres.
And it’s this tiny amount of our vast forest that has this kind of wild nature to it.
Public comments on rescinding the roadless rule must be received by midnight on September 21. To comment on the proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement, go to Regulations.gov. More information is available on the Forest Service Roadless Areas webpage.
Titletown Report set to return
The Green Bay Packers are back on the practice field, getting ready for the upcoming 2026 season. That means the Titletown Report returns on Monday, Sept. 7 to give you the latest on the team, Monday thru Friday during the season, giving you reaction on all the news involving the team. The road to the Super Bowl starts here, with the Titletown Report.
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