An energized crowd filled an auditorium at Helena’s Holter Museum Friday to discuss a federal proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule, which protects 1.39 million acres of Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest – and more than four times that amount across the state.
“I live in the middle of this beautiful country, and part of what makes it wonderful is the roadless, wild nature of it,” said Hank Hudson, a Montana City resident who was among Friday’s approximately 75 attendees. “Right now it’s an important time where decisions are being made about how much roadless land we’ll have, and I think we need every bit that we have.”
Approved in 2001, the Roadless Rule seeks to establish inventoried roadless areas that bar road building and timber harvesting. Over the course of the rule’s drafting, the Forest Service held more than 600 public meetings nationwide, including 34 in Montana.
