Feds vow to ax restrictions on 1 million acres of Northwest Montana forestland
A hiker stands atop a rock ledge in the Jewel Basin in Flathead National Forest on Aug. 20, 2022. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
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.
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