Colorado keeps roadless areas despite Trump reversal

Colorado once again has sidestepped the Trump administration’s opening of 45 million acres of U.S. wildlands through a separately negotiated “roadless rule” that the U.S. Forest Service says it will respect even while it rescinds protections in dozens of states. 

Colorado will keep roadless protections for the 4.2 million acres of protected lands negotiated under the administration of Republican Gov. Bill Owens in 2012, a Forest Service spokesperson said. 

“Colorado and Idaho are not affected by today’s proposal because they already have their own state‑specific roadless rules, tailored to the landscapes, risks and priorities within each state,” the Forest Service national press office said in an unsigned email statement. “Those rules are exactly the kind of local, flexible solutions we want to enable nationally by rescinding the one‑size‑fits‑all 2001 Roadless Rule.”

Popular scenic and wildlife-protecting areas of Colorado included in the separately negotiated state pact include the Maroon East Roadless Area at Maroon Bells near Aspen, and the Tenmile Roadless Area in Summit County.

The Forest Service under U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins claims new roads might be needed across millions of acres in order to more effectively prevent or combat wildfires after decades of overgrowth. Opponents of the reversal say the administration wants to open up more previously protected lands for logging, mining and oil and gas permitting that would require new roadbuilding. 

Environmental groups with Colorado offices welcomed news that the Forest Service would not touch the Colorado and Idaho pacts. But they noted that hunters, anglers and hikers will be affected by roads that cut up wildlife habitat in surrounding states. 

“Fish and wildlife don’t know state boundaries,” said Corey Fisher, Missoula, Montana-based public lands policy director for Trout Unlimited. “Big game needs big land. There are big-game populations that travel to and from Colorado and Wyoming for summer and winter ranges; just because Colorado is not included doesn’t mean Colorado hunters and anglers wouldn’t be affected.”

Wildlife and outdoors groups have also pointed out that many Coloradans travel to Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico and other Western states for recreation, and could see some of their favorite places torn up by new roads. 

“For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has kept our wildest forests intact. The benefits have been incalculable for people, for water, for wildlife and for the climate,” Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen said. “Now, the Trump administration wants to gut the rule and open up 45 million acres of roadless forest to clear-cutting and other harmful development enabled by roadbuilding. Scientists, wildland firefighters and hundreds of thousands of Americans have fiercely opposed this attack on our public lands.”

Trout Unlimited’s research into wildfire mitigation undercuts the Trump administration’s main reason for the national rule changes, Fisher said. While the roadless rules have been in place across all states, the Forest Service has still managed to treat 2 million acres of land for hazardous fuels reduction, he said. 

“So this idea that we need to get rid of the roadless rule because we can’t do fire management activities, the data doesn’t prove that out,” Fisher said. “As for ignitions — humans are the biggest cause of wildfires, and we tend to spark wildfires along roads. More roads means more ignitions.”

Now that the proposed rule has been published in the Federal Register, a daily federal logbook that lists new rules, proposals and public notices, the public has until midnight Sept. 21 to file comments. 

“We want to make sure everyone weighs in,” Fisher said. “Make sure the administration knows the people who live near and work in these areas and recreate do not want to lose this rule. The opportunity before public land users right now is to make sure their voices are being heard.”