Oregon's roadless forests face new threat

What they're saying: The Trump administration says the rule hampers wildfire prevention and firefighting, including forest thinning and insect control.

• "We've watched preventable conditions — overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease — turn healthy landscapes into tinderboxes," Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement.

Yes, but: Multiple studies have shown that roads are themselves associated with increased risk of wildfires.

• The vast majority of wildfires are caused by people, and new roads give people easier access to remote areas that are often at risk of burning.

Zoom in: More than 40 million acres are protected by the Roadless Rule nationwide, with nearly 2 million in Oregon.

• The Mount Hood National Forest is home to 118,000 of those acres, accounting for about 11% of the forest.
• The areas designated as roadless include portions of the Pacific Crest Trail and swaths of the Columbia River Gorge like Larch Mountain.

Those roadless areas also include habitat for scores of threatened and endangered species, including gray wolves, northern spotted owls and several salmon species.

What they're saying: Joseph Vaile with the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife said this is just the latest move from the Trump administration that would weaken protections for vulnerable species.

• "The amount of rules and conservation safeguards that have been undone is really breathtaking," Vaile told Axios.
• He said he thinks the move is "more driven by timber and road construction … than it is really about reducing fuels."

The other side: Travis Joseph, president of the timber industry group American Forest Resource Council, said wilderness areas have changed in ways "that few anticipated when the Roadless Rule was adopted."

• "We should continue to adapt and learn from failed policies to meet the moment, not continue to cling to positions and ideas that don't serve the public's interest," he said in a statement.

What's next: The public has until Sept. 21 to weigh in. Comments can be submitted here.