Colorado keeps roadless areas despite Trump reversal
Colorado once again has sidestepped the Trump administration’s opening of 45 million acres of U.S. wildlands through a separately negotiated “roadless rule” that the U.S. Forest Service says it will respect even while it rescinds protections in dozens of states. Colorado will keep roadless protections for the 4.2 million acres of protected lands negotiated under the administration of Republican Gov. Bill Owens in 2012, a Forest Service spokesperson said. … Environmental groups with Colorado offices welcomed news that the Forest Service would not touch the Colorado and Idaho pacts. But they noted that hunters, anglers and hikers will be affected by roads that cut up wildlife habitat in surrounding states. “Fish and wildlife don’t know state boundaries,” said Corey Fisher, Missoula, Montana-based public lands policy director for Trout Unlimited.
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