WAYNESVILLE, NC – December 31, 2025 – The industry’s most coveted, and frankly, contentious, award has been bestowed: *The Smoky Mountain News’* ‘Hold My Beer’ Award. This year’s recipient? The Trump administration’s controversial decision to rescind the 2001 moratorium on logging and roadbuilding within the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests.
The announcement, made in late August 2025, immediately sparked outrage and disbelief. The administration’s stated goal is to eliminate existing restrictions on activities within these vital ecosystems. However, the move has been met with a resounding chorus of opposition. A staggering 99% of the 625,930 respondents who participated in a two-week comment period voiced their disapproval.
Despite this overwhelming rejection, the administration pressed forward, marking a further erosion of public input in environmental policy. Simultaneously, the Council on Environmental Quality was dissolved, a move widely seen as a deliberate effort to bypass established safeguards.
North Carolina’s roadless forests – a mere 1% of all such areas nationwide – represent a biodiversity hotspot and a crucial source of drinking water for over 2 million people statewide. Experts are raising serious concerns about the increased risk of devastating wildfires and the substantial long-term costs associated with extensive roadbuilding in these ecologically sensitive regions.
“This isn’t just about timber,” says Dr. Evelyn Reed, a leading ecologist at Western Carolina University. “It’s about water quality, wildfire prevention, and the irreversible loss of irreplaceable ecosystems.”
*The Smoky Mountain News* anticipates that the administration’s disregard for public opinion will continue as it navigates broader changes to the National Environmental Policy Act. The ‘Hold My Beer’ Award, presented annually to the most egregious example of disregarding responsible stewardship, remains a powerful symbol of the ongoing battle between short-term economic interests and the preservation of our nation’s natural heritage.
