US Senator Martin Heinrich Defends Roadless Rule

WASHINGTON D.C. - US Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM) criticized a last-minute amendment to Senator John Barrasso's (R-WY) Wildfire Prevention Act allegedly attacking the Roadless Rule for US Forest Service land.

The 2001 Forest Service rule designated nearly 60 million acres of forests and grasslands within the National Forest System (NFS) as “inventoried roadless areas” placing limits on the building of new roads and logging on these lands.

Senator Barrasso's Wildfire Prevention Action is catalogued at <https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/140/text>. The amendment allegedly attacking the Roadless Rule was added by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and has not been cataloged at the time of writing this article.

“This is probably the most flexible conservation tool that we have. The most responsive to being able to do vegetative and wildfire management. The most responsive in terms of protecting habitat. And yet we see this desire to just turn over our public lands to industry. And I think it's deeply concerning,” said Senator Heinrich in a press conference. “It should not be partisan. I think this is going to be one of the major conservation battles of this Congress. And I intend to be on the right side of history on this one.”

Supporters of the Roadless Rule argue that it helps to prevent wildfires because most wildfires start from human activity within 50 miles of roads. Research from the Forest Service and the academic publisher Springer Nature seem to support that claim. Opponents of the Roadless Rule argue that a lack of roads make it more difficult for Forest Service employees to manage Forest Service land.

The website <congress.gov> reports that the Wildfire Prevention Act is headed for the US Senate Energy & Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, Mining. However, the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting the bill will now be heading to the Senate floor for a full vote.

As of publication, congressional tracking information and media reports appeared to conflict regarding the bill's next procedural step.