For over a quarter century, Washington bureaucrats have tied the hands of foresters, blocked responsible land management, and left dangerously flammable conditions across millions of acres of federal land.
Coloradans are paying the price for Washington's dangerous and short-sighted overreach.
All because in the final days of the Clinton Administration, politicians in Washington imposed the so-called “Roadless Rule” across nearly 60 million acres of national forest.
Every year Congress delays meaningful forest management reform, more communities are placed at risk.
Right now, there is not only growing interest in Washington to repeal the rule, but also a plausible path forward for doing so.
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule
The “Roadless Rule” was one of the final major environmental actions taken by the administration of Bill Clinton before leaving office in January 2001.
In simple terms, the rule restricted most:
- new road construction
- existing road fixes or reconstruction
- large-scale timber harvesting
The rule impacts roughly 58.5 million acres of undeveloped national forest land managed by the U.S. Forest Service, making it nearly impossible to manage forests in an efficient manner.
In 2012, Colorado passed our very own version of the Roadless Rule.
At first glance, leaving forests completely untouched sounds like a great way to protect nature.
But the reality is, overgrown forests become tinderboxes.
And to make matters worse, the pine beetle spread through and devastated many national forests shortly after the Roadless Rule was passed.
Dead timber, dense underbrush, and years of neglect have turned routine wildfire seasons into catastrophic megafires that destroy homes, wildlife habitat, watersheds, and entire communities.
Forests must be managed to remain healthy.
The federal Wildfire Prevention Act now moving through the Senate is an opportunity to finally reverse decades of failed policy through expanded forest management reforms. Members of the Senate are also looking to make repealing the Roadless Rule a requirement for earning their support on the final bill.
Today, we are asking you to reach out to Senators Bennet & Hickenlooper and ask them to include a full repeal of the Clinton-era Roadless Rule as part of the final Wildfire Prevention Act.
Without repeal, federal agencies will continue operating with one hand tied behind their backs while wildfire risks continue growing year after year.
There is just one catch, however.
Because Colorado has our own Roadless Rule in place, repealing it at the federal level would not immediately impact our state.
Instead, states surrounding Colorado would be able to lead by example in properly managing their forests, hopefully forcing our state to follow suit.
The choice is simple:
Continue allowing Washington ideology to dictate forest policy...
Or finally empower responsible foresters and land managers to reduce wildfire risks before the next disaster strikes.
For Freedom,
Colorado Freedom Force
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