Repeal Of Roadless Rule Could Impact SoCal’s Cleveland National Forest
As President Donald Trump’s administration hopes to repeal the Roadless Rule, which would open millions of acres of protected federal national forest land to logging and other interests around the nation, Southern California’s pristine Cleveland National Forest could be impacted by new regulations in one way or another. Here are some details from Inside Climate News:
Hunting is common in the Cleveland National Forest, anglers flock to Santiago Creek for trout fishing and there are miles of trails popular with hikers, mountain bikers and horseback riders, including the Pacific Crest Trail that runs from Canada to Mexico. Perhaps most important is the biodiversity of the Roadless Area, which provides habitat and critical migration corridors for mountain lions, coyotes, mule deer and even the occasional California condor. The roadless area also provides a buffer around the Wilderness Areas deeper in the national forest—islands of pristine land where nature is front and center.
“If we go in here and log or if we go in here and develop the roads, that can’t be undone,” Lahage said. “The fractures to the environment can’t be undone, and we lose out, not just on this resource for people, but it’s another strike for the biodiversity crisis.”
Cleveland National Forest lacks the old-growth timber suitable for logging found in other parts of the country. Instead, it’s filled with chaparral and small oak trees, making it unlikely that any logging operations will utilize new roads cut into the forest. Instead, Lahage worries that overturning the Roadless Rule will allow the kind of access to the woods that will increase the number of wildfire ignitions in the area and the potential for big fires that could threaten the nearby communities. And new roads in the woods could pave the way for the privatization of portions of the forest.
