{"id":13342,"date":"2026-06-09T14:32:57","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:32:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13342"},"modified":"2026-06-09T14:32:57","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T14:32:57","slug":"environmentalists-say-bid-to-end-roadless-rule-could-spoil-local-forests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=13342","title":{"rendered":"Environmentalists say bid to end roadless rule could spoil local forests"},"content":{"rendered":"

Environmentalists are trying to raise public awareness about a plan within the Trump administration to allow roads, and potentially long-term business development, in much of the nation\u2019s federal forest system, including the biggest undeveloped stretch of Orange County.<\/p>

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Recently, the effort has included rallies in Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties. More rallies are planned in coming weeks in central and northern California.<\/p>\n

At issue is the fate of the \u201cRoadless Area Conservation Rule,\u201d an administrative regulation that has been in place since 2001 as a way to preserve 60 million acres of federal land for recreation and habitat protection. The rule, which is not a law, has survived every presidential administration of this century, and environmentalists say it has helped protect everything from the Pacific Crest Trail to the California Condor.<\/p>\n

But it soon might go away.<\/p>\n

Last year, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that the roadless rule is \u201coutdated,\u201d and that it runs counter to the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s mandate.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Rollins issued an analysis that claimed lack of roads has left back country lands susceptible to fire. As an example, she pointed to studies that say the lack of roads makes 60% of Utah\u2019s U.S. forest land, and federal lands in other states, \u201cunable to be properly managed for fire risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Montana, it is 58%, and in Alaska\u2019s Tongass National Forest, the largest in the country, 92% is impacted,\u201d Rollins said in his analysis.<\/p>\n

But other parts of Rollins\u2019 analysis suggest the administration doesn\u2019t like the roadless rule because of money. More roads, by Rollins\u2019 own assessment, will lead to jobs that currently don\u2019t exist in much of America\u2019s back country.<\/p>

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\u201c(The roadless rule) also hurts jobs and economic development across rural America,\u201d Rollins said. \u201cUtah alone estimates the roadless rule alone creates a 25% decrease in economic development in the forestry sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orange County environmentalists \u2014 who note that the roadless rule currently applies in places very close to home, such as the Trabuco Ranger District, a 138,000-acre stretch of land at the heart of the Cleveland National Forest that touches Riverside and Orange counties \u2014 say ending the roadless rule would be bad for the environment and for local property values.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter where you look in Orange County, you can see those mountains,\u201d said Melanie Schlotterbeck, who represents Hills For Everyone, referencing the Santa Ana, San Gabriel and San Bernardino ranges, all of which include lands that are protected by the roadless rule. She added that a local area that might be most affected by any change to the rule would the San Mateo Canyon Wilderness, which includes Orange, Riverside, and San Diego counties.<\/p>\n

But beyond the changes that might come to local stretches of nature if the roadless rule is lifted, she said the biggest concern is fire. Contrary to the study cited by Rollins, many environmentalists and others argue that allowing roads \u2014 and the humans that roads bring \u2014 would pose a far bigger fire risk.<\/p>

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\u201cWhen you increase roadways, you increase the number of roadway ignitions,\u201d Schlotterbeck said. \u201cThat is a very hot topic locally and across the West.\u201d<\/p>\n

The topic also is hot in congress.<\/p>\n

The Roadless Area Conservation Act, sponsored by Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-WA, and Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-OR, would codify the roadless rule into federal law. Though it would preserve flexibility for the Trump administration, and future presidents, to allow the Forest Service to build roads or manage vegetation in specific situations, its broader effort would be to keep the 60 million acres that currently are protected as pristine as possible.<\/p>

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The push to preserve the roadless rule isn\u2019t limited to politicians. At least 30 academics from western universities sent a letter of opposition to Rollins, citing data that show wildfires are four times as likely to start within 50 meters of a road.<\/p>\n

And, wherever they start, fires are far more likely to be started by humans than they are by any natural cause, including lightening.<\/p>\n

Schlotterbeck said forest fire ignition sources often are the hot catalytic converter on a car or SUV running off a road, or a cigarette tossed out of a car window.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re adding roadways to places like the San Mateo Canyon wilderness area, that\u2019s not only going to decimate habitat and wildlife but also threaten the communities that border the Santa Ana Mountains,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe privatization of public lands is a huge concern,\u201d she added. \u201cThe fact (is), we have already contributed to this asset with our tax dollars. (But) by opening it up to logging, mining, and roadways, we are decreasing that natural value and the ecosystem services that come with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recently, Schlotterbeck and others held a rally at O\u2019Neill Regional Park. The goal was to let people know that the roadless rule is under threat and that people have an opportunity to comment once Rollins\u2019 Forest Service report is released. In 2001, when the roadless rule was announced, it came only after extensive research and no fewer than 400 public meetings that included millions of comments.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody knows this is going on. It\u2019s being done behind closed doors without public input,\u201d Schlotterbeck said, referencing the current push to end the roadless rule. \u201cSo, we\u2019re trying to raise the flag and say, \u2018pay attention,\u2019 there\u2019s going to be a huge impact, not just locally, but 60 million acres across the United States are going to be opened up to roadways when the rule is rescinded.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dyana Pena, director of programs at Orange County Coastkeeper, said her nonprofit works on many watershed and water quality projects that could be affected by additional road construction in wilderness areas. She worries that rescinding the roadless rule will fragment many of the pristine areas that currently are protected.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese areas are not just green spaces on a map,\u201d she said. \u201cThey are very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pena hopes anybody who has hiked in or otherwise used wilderness in and around Orange County will speak up to protect the rule.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Santa Ana Mountains are a well-known and loved area for recreation,\u201d Pena said. \u201cIf we roll back these protections, we will start to see changes to our quality of life.\u201d<\/p>

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