By Stephen Smoot
Since 2001, the United States Forest Service has restricted development and use of just under 60 million acres within the National Forest System through a regulatory regime known as “roadless rules.”
These came about after measures taken during the Clinton Administration to gradually restrict development in lands referred to as “inventoried roadless areas” by the federal government. President Bill Clinton said in 1999 that “in the final regulations, the nature and degree of protection afforded should reflect the best available science and a careful consideration of the full range of ecological, economic, and social values inherent in these lands.”
Clinton announced the new rules from the top of Reddish Knob.
The administration implemented the rules only days before President George W. Bush took the oath of office. The incoming president immediately challenged the rules and adopted a revised set that addressed some state concerns in 2005. Most states either ignored or declined their 18-month right under the new rules and a federal court set the new rules aside anyway.
United States Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced last week that her department has taken another step forward in an effort to rescind those regulations.
She focused on the need for more infrastructure for wildfire response, saying, “We are one step closer to common sense management of our national forest lands. Today marks a critical step forward in President Trump’s commitment to restoring local decision-making to federal land managers to empower them to do what’s necessary to protect America’s forests and communities from devastating destruction from fires.”
The removal of the rules also has an economic development impetus. “This administration is dedicated to removing burdensome, outdated, one-size-fits-all regulations that not only put people and livelihoods at risk but also stifle economic growth in rural America,” said Rollins.
Rules changes would not affect the state-based federal rules for Colorado and Idaho, but would remove those for Alaska. More than 95 percent of IRAs are in Western states.
Almost 20 percent of the national forest lands in West Virginia, approximately 188,000 acres, are IRAs. Road construction or reconstruction, however, is permitted in these areas, the largest of which runs between Seneca Rocks and Spruce Knob. The forest service allows road construction in approved areas that have pre-existing development permits or areas of public use.
One percent of IRA land in West Virginia, however, allows no road construction at all.
The largest of such areas runs south from the point where US Route 33 crosses from Pendleton County into Virginia. It extends in a narrow band southward along the state line. Another large area where road construction remains forbidden lies in eastern Hardy County south of Wardensville and in the vicinity of the Wilson Cove Wildlife Management Area. In both cases, these lay in the George Washington National Forest.
Backers of the rules explain that they are in place to protect inaccessible, or rarely inaccessible, lands from development, particularly from the timber industry. A United States Department of Agriculture statement from around the time of adoption read “inventoried roadless areas possess social and ecological values and characteristics that are becoming scarce in our nation’s increasingly developed landscape.”
It went on to assert that “protecting air and water quality, biodiversity, and opportunities for personal renewal are highly valued qualities of roadless areas. Conserving inventoried roadless areas leaves a legacy of natural areas for future generations.”
According to the USDA, “the public is invited to comment on the potential effects of the proposal to guide the development of the environmental impact statement no later than Sept. 19, 2025. Public comments will be considered during the development of the draft environmental impact statement. Additional opportunities to comment will occur as the rulemaking process continues.”
