17-07-2025
Forest road rule in New Mexico faces potential change
NEW MEXICO (KRQE) — The feds are working to peel back a rule barring new roads from being paved through federal forests, and now, many are wondering what it could mean for two million acres in New Mexico. For decades, the federal 'Roadless Rule' has blocked new road building across New Mexico's untouched back country, but it may soon be a thing of the past.
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'We're going to go back to common sense forest management to ensure that our forests are here for generations to come,' said US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, who states that the choice will in part help with wildfire prevention. But conservation groups, such as the New Mexico Wilderness Alliance are skeptical of the Trump Administration's choice. They fear what it could mean for some of the state's forest land.
'Lands the New Mexicans know and love would be at risk because of this rollback,' said NM Wilderness Alliance Executive Director Mark Allison. 'Which was intended to open up these places for industrial activity and development like commercial logging, mining, and oil and gas development.'
Other concerns include the impact on outdoor recreation areas, habitat, and sacred tribal lands, as well as the potential of poaching endangered species like the Mexican Grey Wolf.
But some New Mexico lawmakers are in favor of the rule change. Silver City Republican Senator Gabriel Ramos says it may help protect communities from wildfire, floods and property damage. 'If you look at every forest fire out here in the Gila, they've used dozers and they've actually cut lines,' said Ramos. 'And if they already had a road there, it would be a lot easier for them to go ahead and cut that line and try and stop the fire from growing.'
NM Wilderness Alliance thinks what's being floated as a solution to the wildfires could actually cause more, citing studies showing most fires are human-caused and 90% occur within half-a-mile of a road. 'When you have more roads, you have more people, which means you have more human-caused fires,' said Allison.
Near the Carson National Forest, Taos Democratic Senator Bobby Gonzales says there needs to be a balanced approach. 'I know that harvesting timber is important,' said Gonzales. 'But it has to be done that it meets the needs of everyone… Now, just to come in with wide open – developing roads- that does a lot of harm to the land and to restore it back is not that easy.'
The US Forest Service still has to go through a long process before repealing the Roadless Rule, which is expected to include public comment.
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