USDA to end rule that kept logging from national forests. What’s it mean for Idaho?
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced this week that it plans to remove protections that have prohibited logging and road construction on national forest land across the country, but much of Idaho will be protected thanks to a nearly 20-year-old rule meant to appease local conservationists and the timber industry.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins called the 2001 Roadless Rule “overly restrictive” and said many of the 58.5 million acres protected nationwide are at greater risk for wildfire. Idaho replaced the federal rule, implemented at the end of President Bill Clinton’s administration, with a law proposed in 2006 under then-Gov. Jim Risch, who now represents the state in the U.S. Senate.
The Idaho Roadless Rule, finalized in 2008, includes five “themes” or categories with varying levels of restrictions for 9.3 million acres of roadless forest land in Idaho. The less restrictive categories allow construction of temporary roads for logging, while the more restrictive categories have even stricter development standards than the Clinton Roadless Rule.
At the time, Risch told the Idaho Statesman that Idaho served as a model for “the New West” by compromising between natural resource-based industries and environmental protection objectives. Risch’s office did not respond to request for comment Wednesday.
The Idaho Roadless Rule has met with challenges since its creation, but it has seen broad support from politicians in both parties, timber and mining groups, Idaho Native American tribes and the Idaho Conservation League, an environmental nonprofit.
John Robison, Idaho Conservation League public lands and wildlife director, told the Statesman in an email that the Idaho Conservation League supported the state Roadless Rule through legal challenges and looks to Risch to protect the legislation.
“If the Idaho Roadless Rule ever went away, it would mean a return to the timber wars and be a huge distraction from the critical work of forest restoration where it matters most,” Robison said. “There are now multiple forest restoration collaboratives working across Idaho working on improving forest health. These collaboratives work on thinning and prescribed burning around our at-risk communities, improving fish and wildlife habitat and enhancing recreation opportunities.”
The U.S. Forest Service will have to prepare environmental analyses and consult with tribes and each of the 38 states with roadless areas to move forward with its rule change, according to rescission plan on the agency’s website. The Forest Service is already facing outcry — and threats of potential lawsuits — from environmental, conservation and outdoor recreation groups.
Forest Service officials did not respond to a request Wednesday about potential impacts of the rescission on Idaho’s Roadless Rule or roadless rules in Colorado and Alaska. The agency’s website notes that Idaho and Colorado’s rules supersede the 2001 rule, while Alaska’s is pending.
This story was originally published June 25, 2025 at 4:22 PM.
