Missoula County states opposition to roadless rule undoing

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) With the public comment period now open, Missoula County has stated opposition to a proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, along with any alternatives that may possibly alter the bipartisan document.

Jenny Zaso, the county's open lands manager, said many of Montana's 6 million acres of roadless lands lie within Missoula County on the Lolo and Bitterroot national forests. Taken together, they provide intact forests and protect the headwaters of local rivers and streams, which benefit water quality.

They also provide essential connectivity for wildlife, support fisheries and bolster the local recreation economy. Missoula County relies heavily on all of them.

“Missoula County is particularly concerned about the implications for watersheds and rivers,” said Zaso. “Our community's fisheries, agriculture, wildlife and recreation economy depend on healthy forests and functioning watersheds.”

When the Roadless Rule was proposed, the Forest Service carried a maintenance backlog of more than $8 billion on its existing road system. That backlog hasn't improved in 25 years. Still, the Trump administration is looking to rescind the measure, suggesting it was “overly restrictive.”

Missoula County has expressed opposition to the proposal and, in its letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, laid out a list of concerns, including the increased erosion and sedimentation that result from roaded areas.

It also pushed back against the perception that eliminating roadless protections was necessary to reduce wildfire risks.

“Recent research suggests that roads can actually increase wildfire ignition risks, with wildfire ignitions disproportionately concentrated near existing roads,” Zaso said. “The existing Roadless Rule already allows for emergency fire suppression and other necessary responses if needed while protecting intact areas from unnecessary road development.”

The 2001 Roadless Rule was developed through what the county described as “one of the most extensive public participation processes in federal rulemaking history.”

Over the past two decades, it has provided a consistent national framework for protecting roadless areas, which are growing rare in an increasingly fractured and developed landscape.

Eliminating protections would create the potential for “inconsistent protections across the National Forest System,” the county said.

“The Forest Service should carefully evaluate their cumulative and connected effects before making decisions with long-term consequences for watersheds, wildlife, recreation and local communities,” the county wrote. “The existing rule provides important flexibility for emergency response while maintaining critical protections for clean water, wildlife habitat, backcountry recreation and the long-term ecological resilience of our national forests.”