This map shows the areas in the Sierra National Forest that could be impacted by a new rule being proposed by the Trump Administration.
More than four million acres of untouched back country in California, including large swaths of the Sierra, Stanislaus and Sequoia national forests, could be opened for development under a new proposal from the Trump Administration.
The plan announced last week would end the so-called ‘Roadless Rule,’ which prohibited road construction and development on 58 million acres of U.S. Forest Service land across America.
The move is expected to open those areas to potential logging, mining and drilling.
In Mariposa County the plan could potentially impact thousands of acres in the central part of the county south of El Portal and along the North and South Forks of the Merced River.
It includes the area surrounding the popular Hite Cove Trail, as well as Ferguson and Pinoche
Ridge, Devils Gulch, Signal Peak, Iron Mountain and a large swath of the Chowchilla Mountain Range. The area is steep and mountainous, with few roads.
About 172,000 acres, or 12 percent, of the Sierra National Forest, are in zones called Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRA), where roads and development are either restricted or prohibited.
Shown are the areas of the Stanislaus National Forest that could be impacted.
The zones encompass large tracts of pristine land that border four protected wilderness areas: Ansel Adams, John Muir, Monarch and Dinkey Lakes Wilderness.
“It’s going to be a disaster,” said Ken Yager, founder of the Yosemite Climbing Association. “These are areas our drinking water flows through.”
“It provides recreation for people who are low income. If they close those areas to start logging or mining, they may never open again,” Yager said.
Restricting access to the Sierra National Forest could also put more pressure on Yosemite National Park, Yager said.
Kristina Rylands, Watershed Director for the Upper Merced River Watershed Council, said while her group is not “anti-logging” they are troubled by the location of the proposed changes in “some of the most sensitive wildlife corridors and plant communities of the Merced Wild and Scenic River watershed, right on Yosemite’s doorstep.”
Under the Trump Administration plan thousands of acres in Mariposa County, south of El Portal and along the North and South Forks of the Merced River, could be opened for development. The illustration is based on maps provided by the US Forest Service. Map by Fred Ohlerking
Rylands said protections against roads are written into the law “protecting free-flowing rivers like the Merced for over 50 years.”
“Its wild classification defines it as being free from roads,” Rylands wrote. “We won’t stand for it.”
The ending of Roadless Rule, known as a rescission, is subject to a 30-day public comment period. It does not need congressional approval.
The Trump Administration said getting rid of the Roadless Rule will eliminate unnecessary regulation and increase rural economic development.
“Once again, President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common-sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a statement.
In a briefing paper the USDA claimed, “The United States’ national and economic security are currently threatened by our Nation’s reliance upon foreign timber, energy and mineral production.”
“It is imperative for the United States to take immediate action to facilitate domestic production of these natural resources to the maximum possible extent,” the USDA said.
The Trump Administration argues the action would also help with wildfire prevention in the so-called ‘Wildland-Urban Interface’ (WUI).
About 60 percent of the Roadless Rule areas in California have a high or very high wildfire hazard potential, according to the USDA.
But America’s forests and grasslands also act as “carbon sinks,” capturing roughly 10 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gasses every year, according to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Trump has said he wants to bypass endangered species laws and environmental protections to increase logging and the domestic supply of lumber.
A key target of the Trump Administration is reportedly the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, where 92 percent of the land is off limits, frustrating the logging industry.
The Tongass has been called “America’s Climate Hero” because its cedar, hemlock and spruce trees capture 650 million metric tons of carbon every year.
President Bill Clinton used his executive authority to establish the ‘Roadless Rule’ before leaving office in 2001. The move essentially blocked any future logging, mining, and drilling on untouched national forest lands by prohibiting, or severely limiting, road access.
At the time, conservationists praised the move as a turning point, and one of the most significant environmental protections since Theodore Roosevelt established the U.S. Forest Service in 1905 under the Department of Agriculture.
Unlike the National Park Service, which is under the Department of Interior, the U.S. Forest Service mission historically has balanced preservation and wildlife protection with a multiple-use strategy that allows for timber harvesting, mining, cattle grazing, hunting and other recreational uses.
Public comments are due by Sept. 19 and can be submitted online at www.regulations.gov by searching for docket FS-2025-0001.
Letters should be sent to Director, Ecosystem Management Coordination, 201 14th St. SW, Mailstop 1108, Washington, DC 20250-1124.
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