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Feds takes next step in removing protections from 6.4 million acres of Montana’s national forests
August 29, 2025/
Since 2001, ‘Roadless Rule’ has prevented new road construction across 58 million acres of national forest land across the country, minimizing logging and development
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has taken the next step in repealing a rule protecting nearly 60 million acres of national forest land from logging and development — more than 10% of which is in Montana.
While many industry leaders and politicians have praised the move as a way to bolster the timber industry, Forest Service documents from the Roadless Rule’s inception indicate that the reduction in annual harvest from the creation of roadless areas was likely to amount to less than 1% of the state’s historic timber harvest.



