Feds vow to ax restrictions on 1 million acres of Northwest Montana forestland

The federal government pledged to peel back protections on more than 1.1 million acres of forestland in Northwest Montana, opening vast swaths of the region to potential logging projects.

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins vowed on June 23 to rescind longstanding federal restrictions on road construction and timber harvesting for 58.8 million acres of U.S. Forest Service land. The proclamation specifically targeted “Inventoried Roadless Areas,” including 478,000 acres in Flathead National Forest and 639,000 acres in Kootenai National Forest. 

In the 2001 final rule and record of decision that designated these areas, the federal agricultural department stated that restricting development would protect critical natural resources from urban sprawl and help mitigate the rising costs of road maintenance.  

“It makes little fiscal or environmental sense to build additional roads in inventoried roadless areas that have irretrievable values at risk when the agency is struggling to maintain its existing extensive road system,” reads the document. 

At the time, the Forest Service estimated its deferred road maintenance costs at $8.4 billion. The most recent fiscal reports indicate nearly $7 billion in deferred maintenance for roads and road bridges. 

Even so, Rollins said earlier this month that the Inventoried Roadless Area designation created “absurd obstacles” to forest management, resulting in poor wildfire management and decreased economic development in some rural areas. 

The proclamation comes on the heels of an executive order from President Donald Trump calling for a 25% increase in timber production, as well as ongoing efforts to overhaul federal wildfire management systems.  

Under current law, road construction in Inventoried Roadless Areas is permissible for “reducing the likelihood of uncharacteristic wildfire.” Some foresters and biologists have also pointed out that many Inventoried Roadless Areas span steep and rugged terrain, making them less-than-ideal locations for timber extraction. 

The majority of Flathead National Forest’s Inventoried Roadless Areas runs along the ridgeline of the Swan Mountains, between Hungry Horse Reservoir and the Flathead Valley.  Some areas west of the North Fork also fall under the designation. Inventoried Roadless Areas are patchworked throughout Kootenai National Forest and include areas that border the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness. 

Montana's Republican congressional delegation lauded Rollins’ announcement in a string of social media posts. On Facebook, Sen. Steve Daines called the potential repeal of Inventoried Roadless Areas a “huge win for Montana,” while Sen. Tim Sheehy tagged Rollins in a post on X, congratulating her on what he called “commonsense leadership.” 

“As I’ve long maintained, one of the biggest obstacles to proper forest management and wildfire prevention has been unnecessary and overbearing regulations like this one,” reads a statement posted to Rep. Ryan Zinke’s X account. “If you can’t build a road, you can’t fight fires, you can’t cut trees and you can’t properly take care of our national heritage held in our public lands.” 

Under the Administrative Procedure Act, federal agencies are required to submit official notice in the Federal Register and provide for a public comment period before rescinding or altering rules. As of publication, the Department of Agriculture has not provided a notice regarding the repeal of Inventoried Roadless Areas. 

Reporter Hailey Smalley may be reached at 758-4433 or hsmalley@dailyinterlake.com.