Rescinding the Roadless Rule Could Be a Water Quality Disaster
The Secretary of Agriculture just rescinded the Roadless Rule, a move that could undermine water quality for thousands of miles of streams across the American West. The Roadless Rule is a 2001 conservation law which prohibited timber harvesting and road construction on Forest Service lands, and the rule helped conserve roughly 4 million acres of public lands in Utah alone.
The secretary cited a need to more aggressively manage national forests for fire suppression, but rescinding this rule leaves wild acreage vulnerable to new development, and roads through forests can significantly increase fire risk. Many of the forests protected by the Roadless Rule also serve as irreplaceable headwaters for our river ecosystems and for water supplies in our cities, so removing the Roadless Rule will result in more silt, industrial runoff, and other pollutants entering our water supply. Striking the rule down also threatens the habitat for myriad aquatic, avian, and terrestrial species.
The Federal Register is taking public comment on this disastrous rule change until September 19, and we encourage you to leave a comment in support of our public lands and the laws which protect them from rapacious development.
The Provo River. Large sections of this essential water source run through forests the Roadless Rule protected since 2001, so rescinding the rule leaves the river vulnerable to pollution.