NICK SMITH

Montana's national forests are among the most iconic public lands in the country. They offer world-class wildlife habitat, clean water, recreation and scenery. But they also face growing threats from wildfires, drought and insect infestations. These are threats that are worsened, not reduced, by the outdated restrictions of the Clinton-era 2001 Roadless Rule.

Roughly 6.4 million acres of Montana's National Forest System lands are designated as Inventoried Roadless Areas, representing more than a third of the Forest Service's total lands in the state. While limited management activities are technically permitted under the rule, its sweeping prohibitions on road construction make it exceedingly difficult to implement large-scale forest restoration or wildfire mitigation projects

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