SALT LAKE CITY — In the United States, there are 58 million acres of land protected by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It was established in 2001 to protect certain forest service areas from development and logging.
Recently, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced their proposal to rescind the rule. In a statement, the USDA cited timber production and wildfire mitigation as the reasons to repeal the rule.
“Rescinding this overly prescriptive rule will give federal foresters and land managers the latitude to work alongside the communities they serve to make locally driven land management decisions based on their unique local conditions -- reducing wildfire risk, protecting infrastructure, and keeping forests healthy,” a USDA spokesperson said in a statement to FOX 13 News.
The USDA said that roads improve access for wildland firefighters where “timing is critical and lives are at risk”.
Drew Brodhead is a member of the Salt Lake Climbers Alliance and has been rock climbing for many years. He said not only would this repeal take away protections for climbing spots, but also for other areas of recreation.
He said that in Utah, there are about 4 million acres of land that are currently protected by this rule. “It was set aside for recreation, biodiversity, wildlife, and watershed protection,” he said. “So we’re disappointed and we don’t really see the logic.”
But going beyond the sport of climbing and recreation, Salt Lake Climbers Alliance Executive Director Julia Geisler said there are already plans and strategies in place for wildfire mitigation. “They’re already doing it,” she said. “Like all along the Mirror Lake highway in the Unitas, you’re seeing wildfire mitigation happening with the big wood piles that they are burning to create defensible space.”
She said it’s important to protect special public land like the roadless areas, but if the community continues to chip away at these areas — through resource extraction — then there will be nothing left. “I think with public land, people think they can take little pieces of the puzzle, and people can take things from it, including resource extraction,” she said.
The public can make comments on this repeal through 9:59 on September 19th on regulations.gov
“It’s really going to affect our relationship with the area. So let’s just keep it as is,” Brodhead said.
