Donald Trump this month announced plans to rescind a landmark rule that has protected old-growth forests in the US for 25 years. If finalized, the rollback is expected to benefit the companies that Tom Schultz, chief of the US Forest Service, represented in his previous roles as a timber industry lobbyist and executive, according to research by consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, more commonly known as the “roadless rule”, was adopted in 2001 to limit development in roughly 45m acres of national forest.
Industry interests and Republican representatives have long lobbied for the rule’s rescission, which would open up those swaths of untouched land to road construction, drilling and logging. In a statement, Schultz described the move as “the best way to restore the balance, reduce wildfire risk, and secure the long-term health of our forests and neighboring communities”. But studies suggest it could put 400 threatened and endangered species at risk and imperil ecosystems.
Industry interests will be the main beneficiaries of the change, advocates fear. In an emailed statement, a Forest Service spokesperson, who did not provide their name, noted that Schultz had also held positions in Idaho and Montana government. Schultz is the first-ever Forest Service chief who did not previously work within the agency itself.
Before Trump tapped him for the job, he served as president of the Federal Forest Resource Coalition, a trade association representing companies that purchase timber from the federal government, and was also vice-president of resources and government affairs at Idaho Forest Group, a major lumber manufacturer. He is one of dozens of former extractive industry insiders Trump has placed in key environmental positions. Energy secretary Chris Wright was CEO of fracking company Liberty Energy, while interior official Tyler Hassen was an oil executive.
Forty-three former fossil-fuel employees and 29 former corporate executives held administration positions, an October analysis from Public Citizen and corporate watchdog Revolving Door Project found. Schultz has long been critical of the roadless rule. As it was being considered in 2000, he said: “It’s going to be very difficult to actually generate revenue from state trust lands that could be encompassed within a roadless designation.” The American Forest Resource Council (AFRC), a timber industry trade association on the west coast that includes the Idaho Forest Group, has recently directly advocated for the rescission of the roadless rule.
In comments to the federal government last year, the lobbying group said the “one-size-fits-all” policy unnecessarily prevents “active forest management” – intentionally thinning forests through practices including logging – which it says is the best way to mitigate wildfire risk. Since his appointment, Schultz has echoed these calls. It’s essential,” he said in the announcement of the proposal to rescind the roadless rule, which also referred to the policy as “one-size-fits-all”.
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