Trump administration plans to rescind rule blocking logging on national forest lands — Morgan Lee, Becky Bohrer, Associated Press
The Trump administration plans to rescind a nearly quarter-century-old rule that blocked logging on national forest lands, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday.
The roadless rule adopted in the last days of Bill Clinton's presidency in 2001 long has chafed Republican lawmakers, especially in the West where national forests sprawl across vast, mountainous terrain and the logging industry has waned.
The rule impeded road construction and "responsible timber production" that would have helped reduce the risk of major wildfires, Rollins said at the annual meeting of the Western Governors Association.
"This move opens a new era of consistency and sustainability for our nation's forests," Rollins said.
Scientists say that worsening wildfires are driven by a combination of climate change that warms and dries out forests, less logging and decades of fire suppression that has allowed fuels to build up.
The roadless rule has affected 30% of national forest lands nationwide, or about 59 million acres (24 million hectares), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the agency over the Forest Service.
State roadless-area rules in Idaho and Colorado supersede the boundaries of the 2001 roadless rule, according to the USDA, meaning not all national forest land would be affected by a rescission.
Rollins' announcement Monday was a first step in a process to rescind the roadless rule to be followed by a formal notice in coming weeks, the Agriculture Department said in a statement.
The announcement comes amid recent talk of selling off federal lands in part to improve housing affordability, an idea criticized by Democrats as a public land grab.
Selling public lands drew a mixed reception from governors at the same meeting. They expressed enthusiasm for economic development and worries about curtailing public access to shared lands.
Speaking to a panel of governors and hotel-ballroom audience, Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum described a new "era of abundance" on public lands under President Donald Trump's administration in the development of natural resources including energy and critical minerals needed for domestic production of cellphones, computers and vehicles.
Outside the hotel entrance in downtown Santa Fe, several hundred protesters filled the street to denounce efforts that might privatize federal public lands, chanting "not for sale" and carrying signs that read, "This land belongs to you and me" and "keep our public land free for future generations."
On social media, Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy, a Trump ally, called the reversal on roadless areas "another example of President Trump fulfilling his campaign promise to open up resources for responsible development."
The roadless area change meanwhile marks a sharp turnaround from the Biden administration, which far from opening up more areas to timber harvesting sought to do more to restrict logging and protect old-growth forests.
Environmental groups, who want to keep restrictions on logging and road-building for places such as Alaska's Tongass National Forest, criticized the possibility of rolling back the protections.
"Any attempt to revoke it is an attack on the air and water we breathe and drink, abundant recreational opportunities which millions of people enjoy each year, havens for wildlife and critical buffers for communities threatened by increasingly severe wildfire seasons," Josh Hicks, conservation campaigns director at The Wilderness Society, said in a statement on the USDA's plans.
Contrary to what Rollins said about reducing wildfire risk, logging exacerbates climate change and makes wildfires more intense, said Center for Western Priorities political director Rachael Hamby.
"This is nothing more than a massive giveaway to timber companies at the expense of every American and the forests that belong to all of us," Hamby said in a statement.
In Alaska, home to the country's largest national forest, the Tongass, the roadless rule has long been a focus of litigation, with state political leaders supporting an exemption to the rule that they argue impedes economic opportunities.
During the latter part of Trump's first term, the federal government lifted restrictions on logging and road-building in the Tongass, something the Biden administration later reversed.
Trump in January called for reverting to the policy from his first term as part of an Alaska-specific executive order aimed at boosting oil and gas development, mining and logging in the state.
The Tongass is a temperate rainforest of glaciers and rugged coastal islands. It provides habitat to wildlife such as bears, wolves, salmon and bald eagles.
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Bohrer reported from Juneau, Alaska. Mead Gruver in Cheyenne, Wyoming, Matthew Daly in Washington, D.C., and Matthew Brown in Helena, Montana, contributed to this report.
Governors’ report outlines how western states, territories could build more affordable housing – Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham joined leaders from other western states and U.S. territories Monday in publishing a report that proposes government solutions to make housing more affordable across the region.
A group of bipartisan governors joined Lujan Grisham for the opening news conference of the annual Western Governors’ Association in Santa Fe.
As the organization’s chair, Lujan Grisham has for the past year led its push to expand lower-cost options for places to live.
The report offers fixes for what it says are zoning and land use laws that impede housing development, slow and complicated permitting systems, not enough financing tools for affordable housing, high home prices and too few construction workers.
During the news conference, Lujan Grisham, a Democrat, called the report a roadmap for how western state governments can catch up on building workforce and affordable housing, including using public lands.
She pointed to state-owned land at the state fairgrounds in Albuquerque, where New Mexico is “moments away” from announcing the results of a competitive bidding process for hiring a master planner who will oversee multi-use development there.
“We are looking at moving the fair and redeveloping a brand new revitalized housing and community neighborhood initiative there,” Lujan Grisham said. In April, she signed legislation giving state officials authority to issue hundreds of millions of dollars in bonds and take other steps to develop the land.
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, a Republican and the association’s immediate past chair, said issues like housing, water and fire resource management have come to the fore with many people moving to the West.
When the states and the federal government come together, Gordon said, “there really are no problems that we can’t successfully address.”
South Dakota’s Republican Gov. Larry Rhoden said he’s impressed with the reception governors have received from the second Trump administration, however, he believes the country’s problems will not be solved in Washington but rather by state governments.
“I’ve been encouraged that we’ve got cabinet secretaries in place, a number of them that are very willing to work with the governors to find solutions,” Rhoden said.
Several Trump-appointed leaders are scheduled to speak to Western Governors’ Association this week.
When asked about the proposal in Congress for some public lands to at least be nominated to be sold and used for housing, Lujan Grisham said the notion that we don’t need any public lands is likely to be a “non-starter” in New Mexico.
“The process that has been described so far is a problem for a state like New Mexico wherein our public lands, we have a very strong relationship with the openness and they belong to all of us,” Lujan Grisham said. “And selling that to the private sector without a process, without putting New Mexicans first, is, at least for me as a governor, going to be problematic.”
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said he hopes the federal government includes states in a search for federal land that could be used for housing or other uses.
“Coloradans really treasure our access, and it would be a devastating blow to the quality of life, as well as to our economy, if areas were fenced off and the public was denied access,” said Polis, a Democrat.
One of the recommendations in the WGA’s housing report is for Congress to consider legislation to allow agencies beyond the U.S. Forest Service to lease some federal lands for affordable housing used by federal workers and local communities.
“With the concentration of federal lands in the West, leveraging certain parcels for responsible housing development is an additional strategy to address affordable housing shortages,” the report states.
Lovelace Health System CEO resigns amid ongoing turnover in top role – Hannah Garcia, Albuquerque Journal
Lovelace Health System CEO and President Troy Greer has resigned, officials announced last week, the latest in a string of departures for the top position at one of the state’s largest health systems.
Lovelace declined to comment on why Greer resigned. Greer, who held the top role at Lovelace for two years, is the latest in a series of early departures from the CEO and president position — including his predecessor David Schultz, who left at the end of 2023 after less than a year on the job.
Greer is being replaced in the interim by Lovelace Medical Group CEO Michael Kueker, while health system officials conduct a national search to permanently fill the position.
“We are grateful for Troy’s leadership over the past two years, during which Lovelace has continued to evolve to better serve communities across New Mexico,” Lovelace Chief Medical Officer Vesta Sandoval said in a statement.
Since 2022, the health system has cycled through four CEOs, including Greer, Schultz and Janelle Raborn, who worked with the company for four decades but retired in 2022 — the same year she was appointed. Ron Stern held the position of CEO from 2005 through 2022.
Greer came to Lovelace to take the top position after serving as the CEO of Boone Health in Columbia from September 2020 to April 2023, according to previous Journal reporting. He also worked for many years with Lovelace before that, including as CEO of Lovelace Westside Hospital from 2007 to 2012 and Lovelace Medical Center and Heart Hospital of New Mexico from 2012 to 2020.
Kueker, the interim CEO and president of the health system, joined Lovelace in 2023 after previously serving as vice president of physician practice operations at Tennessee-based Community Health Systems. Kueker’s role as the top executive of Lovelace will include more responsibilities, as the health system oversees five hospitals, dozens of clinics and more than 3,500 employees.
“With Michael’s leadership, we are confident the Lovelace team will continue building on this progress to meet the diverse healthcare needs of our region,” Sandoval said.