Wyoming Congresswoman Harriet Hageman expressed deep frustration over the widespread wildfires ravaging the state, which have destroyed more than 600,000 acres this fire season.
Among the affected areas is her family’s Hartville homestead, which was consumed by the 29,000-acre Pleasant Valley Fire. With the Elk and Pack Trail fires now making national headlines for burning around 180,000 acres combined, Hageman said she sympathizes with residents and landowners who have lost everything but is also angry about the policies she believes contributed to the crisis.
In a phone interview with Cowboy State Daily, Hageman pointed to the 2021 Roadless Rule, a federal regulation originating from the Clinton administration, which restricts motor vehicle access and forest management across 58 million acres of federal land. She argued that this rule has led to a lack of forest management, allowing dense undergrowth to accumulate and fuel wildfires.
Hageman, an attorney who once represented Wyoming in fighting the rule, said that federal agencies like the U.S. Forest Service are now unable to properly manage these forests because of the restrictions.
She also emphasized that the fires are not the fault of Wyoming residents or local firefighters, praising their efforts to combat the blazes.
Hageman noted that when the rule was enacted, federal officials acknowledged it could lead to an ecological disaster — a prediction she believes has now come true, as large fires continue to devastate the West. This situation, according to Hageman, contributes to public mistrust of the federal government and fuels conspiracy theories surrounding the wildfires.