WASHINGTON— The Trump administration today proposed scrapping the country’s most significant tool for protecting national forests, a move that would open nearly 45 million acres of wild, unfragmented forest across 37 states to road construction, logging and other development.

“Trump is pushing for the largest evisceration of public lands protection in American history and against what Americans want,” said Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These are some of the last truly wild forests left in the country, places that shelter endangered wildlife and protect our drinking water. Once you start bulldozing roads for commercial logging and industrial development, there’s no getting them back. Americans love their public lands and want them protected. We’re going to fight like hell to safeguard these wild places for future generations.”

Today’s announcement from the U.S. Agriculture Department will be followed by Wednesday’s release of the draft environmental analysis, giving the public until Sept. 21 to comment on the proposed Roadless Rule recission.

Here are statements from the Center’s regional experts on risks to roadless forests and wildlife across the country:

Northern Rockies

“Roadless forests are lifelines for grizzly bears and Canada lynx across the northern Rockies,” said Kristine Akland, Northern Rockies director. “Grizzlies need these areas to den and raise cubs and lynx populations are already declining as mature forest habitat disappears. Building roads and allowing logging in these wild areas would make an already difficult situation for these species even worse. People across the region know how vital these intact forests are for wildlife, clean water and recreation, and they overwhelmingly oppose dismantling the Roadless Rule.”

Alaska

“We’ll fight Trump’s monstrous proposal to gut the Roadless Rule, which would be disastrous for the Tongass,” said Cooper Freeman, Alaska program director. “Punching roads through 9 million acres of intact temperate rainforest would destroy world-class salmon streams. It would open the door for corporations to clearcut irreplaceable, centuries-old Sitka spruce for export overseas. Alaska’s wild places deserve better.”

Southwest

“Roadless forests are where wildlife live,” said Taylor McKinnon, Southwest director. “They’re home to jaguars, Mexican spotted owls, and ocelots, some of the most iconic animals on the continent. Plowing roads into their habitat will bring human-caused wildfires and disturbances that they don’t need and can’t afford. We’ve fought for years to protect the forests and animals of the Southwest and there’s no way we’re giving up now.”

Southeast

"Roadless areas protect the most beloved and endangered species in the Southeast,” said Will Harlan, Southeast program director. “The South Mills River harbors the country’s strongest hellbender population. Snowbird and Tusquitee Bald shelter endangered Carolina northern flying squirrels, gray bats and longsolid mussel. These forests sustain local economies, protect iconic recreation spots like the Appalachian Trail and safeguard drinking water for millions of people in Charlotte, Atlanta and beyond. Handing them over to loggers and construction crews isn’t sound policy, it’s a tragedy."

Why we need the Roadless Rule:

• Forests free of roads and logging provide crucial and connected habitat for animals and plants, protecting them from noise, pollution and other human-caused harms.
  
  
• The forests at risk — from Oregon to North Carolina — are home to scores of threatened and endangered species, including American wolverines, Canada lynx, grizzly bears and northern spotted owls. Rescinding the Roadless Rule would not only push these species closer to extinction but threaten countless others, including Alexander Archipelago wolves and Queen Charlotte goshawks.
  
  
• More than 370,000 miles of roads already fragment U.S. national forests, with a maintenance backlog in the billions of dollars. Most wildfires are human caused and occur near roads, with a decades-long, nationwide study finding human-caused wildfires are four times more likely in areas with roads than in roadless forests.
  
  
• National forests are the headwaters of many of the country’s major rivers and the largest source of municipal water supplies, serving more than 60 million people in 33 states. The Roadless Rule protects rivers and streams from roads, a major source of water pollution because of erosion and sediment.