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The Trump Administration wants to roll back the “Roadless Rule” which protects 13 roadless areas covering hundreds of thousands of acres in Teton County from development. Advocacy group Trout Unlimited mapped the potential areas that may lose protections.
At-risk is land near Munger Mountain, Phillips Ridge, the Gros Ventre range and the western slope of the Tetons in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
The rule has been around since 2001; “successfully,” according to County Commissioner Len Carlman.
“It’s just been something that local people have agreed on,” he said, “I have not heard anybody say, ‘hey, we need a new road over here.’”
He says more roads, logging and mining are unlikely. Many of the areas are protected by separate designations, and development doesn’t make sense.
“Keeping these lands roadless might be mostly achieved by their own sort of self-preservation attributes,” Carlman said, “being rough and rugged and difficult to put a road into.”
Commissioners approved sending a letter to the U.S. Forest Service on Sept. 15. It says Teton County roadless areas are “vital to the health of our watersheds, the survival of diverse wildlife populations, and the character of our local communities.”
It asks the USFS to consider the local government’s intention to keep them protected, referencing a motion passed in 2018, urging Congress to permanently protect roadless areas.
“They’re just places we treasure,” Carlman said, “They’re the places we go when we have weekend time or we want to go camping, want to take our families out with our dogs.”
Carlman is encouraging residents to get involved with the ongoing Bridger-Teton National Forest planning process. That will determine land uses on every area of the forest.
Public comment ends Sept. 19. Over 99% of comments submitted as of Sept. 19 oppose the proposed rollback, according to advocacy group, the Center for Western Priorities.
