More than ۴۰۰ endangered animal and plant species could face accelerated extinction after the Donald Trump administration’s decision to rescind a rule that has protected old-growth forests for more than two decades.
According to a new report from the Center for Biological Diversity, the rollback of the Bill Clinton-era “roadless rule” could put ۷.۴m acres of endangered-species habitat and nearly ۱,۸۰۰ miles of protected rivers and streams at risk, while opening more than ۴۵m acres of national forests to roads, drilling and logging.
The Trump administration moved last week to rescind the ۲۰۰۱ Roadless Area Conservation Rule, citing “outdated restrictions [that] have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities”.
Conservationists have criticized the decision.
“Our national forests are home to some of America’s most iconic animals, from grizzlies to hellbenders. These forests provide clean drinking water to countless communities. Bulldozing more roads through them will mean dirtier water, fragmented wildlife habitat and greater wildfire risk,” said Randi Spivak, public lands policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
At-risk species include grizzly bears and gray wolves in the Rocky Mountains, wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, Mexican spotted owls and Gila trout in the south-west, as well as rare butterflies and wildflowers nationwide, according to the report.
In the Rocky Mountains, ۹.۷m acres of roadless areas are at risk, including ۲.۹m acres of critical habitat and nearly ۱۱,۰۰۰ miles of streams home to ۲۱ imperiled plant and animal species. Montana’s roadless areas also protect watersheds supplying drinking water to communities in Bozeman, the Flathead Valley and the Seeley-Swan Valley, the report found.
In Alaska, the rollback threatens wild salmon in the ۹.۳m-acre Tongass national forest, which produces more wild salmon than any other national forest. The region’s $۱bn-a-year commercial and sport fishing economy which accounts for one in ۱۰ jobs in south-east Alaska may also be affected, the report noted.
The Tongass also supplies drinking water to more than a dozen communities, including Sitka, where about ۹,۰۰۰ people rely on the Blue Lake Reservoir. Logging and road construction could introduce sediment and jeopardize the city’s federal waiver allowing it to avoid conventional water filtration.
In the US south and south-east, eastern hellbenders – North America’s largest salamander species, Carolina northern flying squirrels and bog turtles are among the species at risk. The potential impact includes ۱.۱m acres of roadless areas and ۱,۳۰۰ miles of streams. In Georgia, roadless areas in the Chattahoochee national forest protect the river’s headwaters, which provide more than ۷۰% of metro Atlanta’s drinking water to about ۵ million people, according to the report.
Over in the south-west, nearly ۱۰m acres of roadless areas are at risk, including ۱.۱m acres of critical habitat and ۴,۲۰۵ miles of waterways supporting ۱۰۱ federally protected species, including Mexican gray wolves, jaguars, Mexican spotted owls and loach minnows.
Some species are found nowhere else in the US, while others survive only in small, isolated populations where “every acre of intact habitat matters”, the report noted.
Meanwhile, national forests in the south-west provide ۴۵% of Phoenix’s water and three-fourths of Flagstaff’s, while Albuquerque relies on the Rio Grande, Carson and Santa Fe national forests for ۷۵% of its drinking water.
Across the Pacific, approximately ۸.۴m acres of roadless areas are at risk, including ۳.۲m acres of critical habitat and ۱,۲۸۰ miles of waterways supporting ۱۴۵ federally protected plants and species. Among them are the rare Sierra Nevada red foxes, estimated to number just ۱۸ to ۳۹ today, the report found.
In the north-east, ۲۹۱,۰۰۰ acres are at risk, including habitat for American martens and federally protected northern long-eared bats. In the upper midwest, ۵۲۵,۰۰۰ acres are at risk, including ۱۲۵,۰۰۰ acres of critical habitat and ۳۳ federally protected plants and animals including Canada lynxes and gray wolves.
The Trump administration’s decision to rescind the “roadless rule” is the latest in a series of environmental rollbacks. Since retaking office last January, Trump has allowed off-road vehicles on public lands and national parks, scrapped drilling-free buffer zones near a world heritage site in New Mexico and ordered tree cutting across ۲۸۰m acres of national forests and public lands – all while overhauling the US Forest Service, which manages ۱۹۳m acres across the country.
