The Trump administration has received pushback from attorneys after revealing plans to remove certain protections in national forests in an effort to boost the timber industry.
What's happening?
According to Bloomberg Law, the U.S. Forest Service will rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which forbade road construction and timber harvests on millions of acres of national forests and grasslands.
In a notice, the Forest Service referred to initiatives from the Trump administration. Earlier this year, President Trump signed an executive order to cut down forests to increase American timber production and reduce the risk of wildfires. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins declared the situation an emergency, according to Bloomberg Law.
"All of these rationales are legally suspect," Southern Environmental Law Center Senior Attorney Sam Evans said in an email, per Bloomberg Law. "The Forest Service is about to run headlong into the reality that propaganda (like what we see in this notice) is hard to defend in a science-based analysis."
Prior to the current administration, research from the Forest Service found that there were higher rates of wildfires near roads and that roadless areas don't impact wildfire burn rates.
Why are forest protections important?
Bloomberg Law reported that the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was responsible for preserving places like the Appalachian forest in Virginia and parts of Alaska's Tongass National Forest.
Forests are critical in the fight to protect the planet during the climate crisis. Forty-one million trees are cut down each day, which contributes to a rise in carbon dioxide pollution, according to The Nature Conservancy. Deforestation also creates a high risk of extinction for animals, as forests provide homes for 80% of land species.
Deforestation impacts humans in more ways than one. About 1.6 billion people depend on forests for their livelihood, according to the World Economic Forum. Not only do forests support jobs, but they also provide food sources for many communities.
What's being done about protecting forests?
State leaders have been taking action to protect forests from both deforestation and wildfires. A bipartisan initiative to extend a forest management program was announced in May. First introduced in 2009, the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program has restored 5.7 million acres so far.
Worldwide efforts are also moving forward. The World Economic Forum launched an initiative in 2020 to conserve, restore, and grow a trillion more trees by 2030. The organization is focused on key regions in the United States, China, and India.
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