A bipartisan effort to advance wildfire prevention legislation in the Senate has become mired in controversy after Republicans added a provision that would repeal longstanding protections for nearly 59 million acres of national forest land.

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved the amended Wildfire Prevention Act on an 11-9 party-line vote Wednesday, sending the measure to the full Senate.

The bill aims to reduce wildfire risks through expanded forest management activities, including increasing tree-thinning on federal lands.

However, Republicans, led by committee Chair Mike Lee, R-Utah, added language that would nullify the 2001 Roadless Rule, which restricts road construction, logging, mining and other development in undeveloped national forest areas.

The rule currently protects roughly 30% of National Forest System lands nationwide, including about 4 million acres in Utah.

"The roadless rule was a bad idea in 2001 and it remains a bad idea today," Lee said during the committee meeting, arguing the policy has harmed western communities.

Supporters of the repeal contend the rule limits infrastructure and resource development projects.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the restrictions have complicated efforts to build transmission lines and hydropower connections in parts of Alaska.

Democrats argued the amendment undermines the bill's bipartisan support and threatens cherished public lands.

"I think it dimmed the prospect of the underlying bill becoming law dramatically," said Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., the committee's top Democrat.

"This turned that bipartisan effort into a deeply partisan lightning rod."

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said repealing the Roadless Rule would jeopardize popular recreation areas and old-growth forests across the West.

The amendment comes as the Trump administration separately pursues an administrative effort to rescind the Roadless Rule through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

An environmental review is underway, with a decision expected later this year.

According to the Center for Western Priorities, more than 99% of public comments submitted during the review process oppose repeal.

Environmental groups condemned the Senate action. Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's Lands Protection Program, called the amendment "one of the biggest attacks on our national forests in decades."

"For more than 20 years, the Roadless Rule has protected some of our most important public lands, safeguarding clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, outdoor recreation opportunities and some of the last remaining intact and old-growth forests in the country," Manuel said. "This amendment has nothing to do with preventing wildfires."

Jack Stauss, director of Save Our Canyons, also criticized the proposal, calling it "bad for the Wasatch, and bad for Utah."

Despite the disagreement over public lands policy, both sides say negotiations on a separate bipartisan permitting reform package are progressing.