By Leah Douglas
WASHINGTON, Aug 18 (Reuters) - The Trump administration took a step toward rescinding a decades-old rule that protects undeveloped forests on Tuesday in a move it says will help manage wildfire risk, but which environmental groups oppose, saying it would do the opposite.
President Donald Trump has rolled back environmental regulations and taken land out of conservation for purposes such as energy extraction.
The proposed rule filed by the U.S. Forest Service would rescind the 2001 Roadless
Area Conservation Rule, which bans logging, roads and mining in undeveloped forests, and move authority to local national forest managers, according to a press release from the Department of Agriculture.
The U.S. is suffering one of its worst years for wildfires, with 7.3 million acres (3 million hectares) burned in around 49,000 fires through August 17, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in the release that rescinding the rule would improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk.
"Today, we filed a proposal to restore authority to local forest managers who know the land best, removing the barriers that have kept them from doing the work the land demands," she said.
Environmental groups argue that rescinding the rule would increase wildfire risk by exposing more forest land to human activity. A 2025 analysis by the Wilderness Society found that wildfire density is lowest in wilderness and protected forest areas, and highest in the areas near roads.
Josh Hicks, the group's director of conservation campaigns, said "too many communities, ecosystems, wildlife species and local economies depend on keeping these wild forests healthy and undisturbed."
"Opening our backcountry forests to more roads and development, and therefore more ignitions, is also not a wildfire solution, and never will be," Hicks said.
The Roadless Rule limits development on nearly 59 million acres (24 million hectares) of forest, about 30% of the National Forest System, according to the USDA.
The agency will take comment on the proposed rule until September 21.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas in Washington; additional reporting by Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; editing by Timothy Gardner and Rod Nickel)
