Photo courtesy Los Padres Forest Watch.
Environmental groups challenge wildfire claims as administration moves to strip
protections from 635,000 acres in Los Padres National Forest
Public comments on the proposed rescission and draft environmental impact statement are due September 21.
CENTRAL COAST — The Trump administration has formally proposed
eliminating the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a move that could remove longstanding protections from more than 44 million acres of national forest lands across the country, including 635,000 acres in Los Padres National Forest.
On August 18, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that the U.S. Forest Service had filed a proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule in its entirety. A public comment period is open through September 21.
The Roadless Rule protects approximately 30% of U.S. National Forest land from new
permanent road construction and the most intensive forms of commercial logging. Los
Padres National Forest contains more roadless acreage than any other national forest in California, containing 37 inventoried roadless areas totaling 635,106 acres across Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Kern, and Monterey counties.
These protections extend across some of the region’s most recognizable landscapes,
including the mountains along the Gaviota Coast, the upper Santa Ynez River watershed, and the Sierra Madre Mountains near Cuyama in Santa Barbara County; the Topatopa Mountains behind Ojai, Santa Paula Canyon, and the slopes of Mt. Pinos and Frazier Mountain in Ventura County; Black Mountain, portions of the La Panza Range, and the upper Salinas River watershed in San Luis Obispo County; portions of the upper Nacimiento River, Black Butte near Tassajara, and lands near Arroyo Seco Campground in
Monterey County; and the San Emigdio Mountains and Cerro Noroeste in Kern County.
The administration has made wildfire risk a central justification for the proposed
rescission, arguing that the Roadless Rule has prevented land managers from conducting forest management. However, fire ecologists, along with conservation groups across the country—including ForestWatch—dispute that characterization, noting that the rule does not prohibit wildfire suppression and includes broad exceptions that allow for vegetation management activities, including fuel reduction projects and other actions intended to protect public health and safety.
In fact, the Forest Service has approved multiple vegetation management projects in
roadless areas of Los Padres National Forest in recent years, including projects on Tecuya Ridge in Kern County and Pine Mountain in Ventura County. ForestWatch says these projects demonstrate that wildfire risk reduction work can and does take place under the existing Roadless Rule.
“This is Donald Trump’s gift to the commercial logging industry, which has been trying to eliminate the Roadless Rule for decades. Making this about wildfire risk is just a political tactic, ” said Benjamin Pitterle, Director of Advocacy and Field Operations at Los Padres ForestWatch. “The Forest Service already has the authority it needs to respond to wildfires and manage fuel in roadless areas. The Roadless Rule merely protects the biggest, old- growth and mature trees from commercial logging. This action is a core part of the Trump administration’s agenda to industrialize America’s public lands.
According to many conservation and recreation groups, USDA’s decision also has nothing to do with providing access to the public. More than 371,000 miles of roads already crisscross national forests, with many existing roads closed due to a nearly $8.6 billion road and bridge maintenance backlog.
More roads also doesn’t equate to safe conditions. A recent U.S. Forest Service study
shows that human-caused wildfires occur disproportionately near roads, meaning that
expanding the road network into currently roadless areas could heighten wildfire risk while also fragmenting wildlife habitat, degrading watersheds, spreading invasive species, and further straining Forest Service resources.
“Logging remote, old-growth forests doesn’t protect communities from wildfire,” said
Pitterle. “These areas are precious precisely because they remain largely intact and
unfragmented.”
The Roadless Rule was established in 2001 following one of the most extensive public participation processes in federal rulemaking history. 430 public meetings were hosted by USDA over a two-year period generating more than 1.5 million public comments (95% in support). It has since become one of the nation’s most significant protections for undeveloped national forest lands. By contrast, the Trump administration’s current proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule will take place without a single public meeting and a mere 30-day public comment period.
The Roadless Rule helps limit commercial logging in some of the nation’s most intact
national forest backcountry. Large, mature trees provide important wildlife habitat, store significant amounts of carbon, and help stabilize forest soils and watersheds. In Los Padres National Forest, inventoried roadless areas provide habitat for threatened and endangered wildlife, safeguard watersheds, store carbon, and encompass some of the forest’s most remote backcountry. They also contain 349 miles of trails supporting hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking, and designated motorized recreation. Critics argue that removing nationwide roadless protections would expose these landscapes to new pressures without reducing wildfire risk to communities.
Over the past few months, ForestWatch and partners have hosted four public town halls across the Central Coast to raise awareness about the proposed rollback and what it could mean for Los Padres National Forest and surrounding communities. Two additional town halls are scheduled before the public comment period closes: an in-person event on August 26 in Thousand Oaks and an online town hall on September 9.
ForestWatch and conservationists across the country are calling on Secretary Rollins to keep the national Roadless Rule in place and protect America’s remaining intact national forest backcountry from further fragmentation and industrial development. Public comments on the proposed rescission and draft environmental impact statement are due September 21.
Visit forestwatch.org/roadless to explore an interactive map of roadless areas in Los Padres National Forest, find information about upcoming town halls, and submit a public comment.
About Los Padres ForestWatch
Los Padres ForestWatch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that protects wildlife, water, wilderness, and sustainable access throughout Los Padres National Forest and Carrizo Plain National Monument through advocacy, education, and community engagement. Follow ForestWatch on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Bluesky. Learn more at forestwatch.org