[Editor: The Roadless Rule safeguards nearly 60 million acres of national forest land across the U.S., including about 2 million acres in Washington State, map below]
Popular Roadless Rule conservation measure protects 44 million acres of pristine U.S. Forest Service lands from destructive and expensive roadbuilding, logging, and supports outdoor recreation economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, led 39 Senators and dozens of House members in a letter calling on the Trump Administration to end its efforts to repeal the Roadless Rule. For a quarter century, the Roadless Rule has shielded approximately 44 million acres of the most pristine and treasured areas within the National Forest System from roadbuilding and logging.
“Since its adoption in 2001, the Roadless Rule has served as a cornerstone of public lands conservation, now protecting approximately 44 million acres of National Forest System lands across 37 states,” wrote the Senators. “These areas provide clean drinking water, critical wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and world-class recreation opportunities. Iconic landscapes such as the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, and the George Washington National Forest in Virginia exemplify the ecological, cultural, and economic importance of these lands.”
The letter to Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz goes on to note the habitat protection, wildfire mitigation, and economic benefits of the Roadless Rule.
The Roadless Rule enjoys strong public support, as evidenced by the overwhelming majority of 2.5 million comments submitted on the Roadless Forest Protection Rule since it has been enacted — more than 95%— were in support of protecting roadless areas. A March 2019 poll by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that three out of four respondents said they supported keeping roadless forest protections, while only 16% opposed it. That level of support changed little between respondents living in rural or non-rural areas and across party affiliation and political views.
For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has prevailed over numerous court challenges and administrative and legislative attacks. The first Trump administration weakened the rule, and in October 2020 the administration removed roadless protections for over 9 million acres of pristine forest lands in the Tongass National Forest, threatening old-growth forest and southeast Alaska’s robust tourism and fishing economies. Under the Biden administration, the protections in the Tongass were restored, but they were then removed again by the second Trump administration.
In August 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a notice in the Federal Register indicating that the Trump Administration intends to start an environmental review process to rescind the rule. The notice started the clock on a three-week public comment period which ended on Sept. 19. Since that comment period ended, USDA has been updating its proposal and developing its accompanying draft environmental impact statement (EIS).
In April, the Trump administration enacted a sweeping rollback of environmental protections across nearly 60% of U.S. national forests, including about 26 million acres of previously protected Roadless areas. This policy shift was formalized through an emergency directive by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, following a presidential executive order aimed at expediting logging projects by streamlining permitting, removing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, and exempting affected forests from administrative objection processes that previously allowed for challenges by environmental groups, tribes, and local government.
Then, on August 18, the Trump Administration released its proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement, a significant step toward repealing the 2001 Roadless Rule. Yet the administration has allowed only 30 days for public comment, an inadequate timeframe for communities, Tribes, conservation organizations, and others to fully assess and respond to a proposal with potentially sweeping consequences for our national forests. For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has protected over 58 million acres of National Forest System lands from new road construction and some of the most damaging forms of logging. The current proposed rollback threatens 44 million acres, the federal Roadless areas in every state except Colorado and Idaho that have enacted state specific Roadless area protections. These protections are particularly important in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the nation’s largest remaining temperate rainforest, where intact forestlands provide essential wildlife habitat, help communities adapt to a changing climate, and support local economies.
The Forest Service’s August notice provides information about how members of the public may submit comments on the proposal in writing during the short 30-day comment period, which ends Monday, September 21. According to the notice, comments may be provided electronically (the preferred method) through the Federal eRulemaking Portal, https://www.regulations.gov, by identifying docket number FS-2025-0001 or RIN 0596-AD66 and following the instructions for sending comments. Alternatively, hardcopy letters sent by mail must be submitted to the Director, Ecosystem Management Coordination, 201 14th Street SW, Mailstop 1108, Washington, DC 20250-1124.
The contrast between the original rulemaking and today’s rushed repeal effort is stark: the 2001 rule was shaped by more than 600 public meetings and an extensive public comment process, while the current administration has held no comparable public meetings to hear directly from the communities that could be affected. In the absence of meaningful federal engagement, communities in Oregon, Montana, North Carolina, and other states have been left to organize their own opportunities for public input. Americans who rely on these lands for clean water, recreation, wildlife, and their livelihoods deserve a genuine opportunity to participate in decisions that will shape the future of our national forests.
Congress should ensure these protections do not disappear with a change in administration. Last year, Sen. Cantwell, along with Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) and Representatives Andrea Salinas (D, OR-06) and Yassamin Ansari (D, AZ-03), introduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act (H.R. 3930/S. 2042) to permanently codify the Roadless Rule.
By codifying the rule into law—including in the Tongass—the Roadless Area Conservation Act would uphold recreational access to public lands, preserve the habitats of 1,600 at-risk species, reduce the risk of wildfires, aid in the fight against climate change by preserving vast carbon sinks, and safeguard watersheds that provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million Americans in 39 states and more than 350 communities across the United States. The legislation would maintain the flexibility engrained in the Roadless Rule which allows for continued forest management and the construction of roads as needed to address fires, floods, or other catastrophic events, and other circumstances like the need to build new road connections between remote communities.
The Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2025 would:
- Protect, in perpetuity, 58.5 million acres of roadless national forest in 39 states;
- Ensure the more than 240 million people living within 100 miles of a national forest or national grassland retain access to opportunities for outdoor recreation, including hiking, camping, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, and backcountry skiing;
- Safeguard watersheds in national forests and roadless areas that provide clean drinking water for over 60 million Americans;
- Save taxpayers millions of dollars by limiting costly new road building, allow the Forest Service to focus on maintaining its existing 371,581-mile network of National Forest System roads, and reduce its multi-billion dollar backlog of deferred maintenance on its existing road system;
- Maintain exemptions for hydropower development, public safety, and firefighting needs; and
- Uphold the 9th and 10th U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals decisions, as well as a decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in support of the Roadless Rule.
The full text of the letter is below and HERE.
Dear Secretary Rollins and Chief Schultz,
As Members of Congress representing a broad range of communities, stakeholders, and outdoor interests, we write in strong support of the U.S. Forest Service’s Roadless Area Conservation Rule (“Roadless Rule”) and in firm opposition to the Department of Agriculture’s proposal for rescission. We urge the Department to halt this effort and instead focus on effective implementation of this longstanding and successful policy.
Since its adoption in 2001, the Roadless Rule has served as a cornerstone of public lands conservation, now protecting approximately 44 million acres of National Forest System lands across 37 states. These areas provide clean drinking water, critical wildlife habitat, carbon storage, and world-class recreation opportunities. Iconic landscapes such as the Tongass National Forest in Alaska, the Gila National Forest in New Mexico, and the George Washington National Forest in Virginia exemplify the ecological, cultural, and economic importance of these lands.
The Roadless Rule was developed through one of the most robust public processes in federal rulemaking history. The Forest Service received 1.6 million public comments – approximately 95 percent in support – and held over 600 public meetings nationwide. In contrast, the current rescission effort has lacked meaningful public engagement. The Department provided just 21 days for public comment on the Notice of Intent in 2025 and has yet to hold any public meetings. Despite these limitations, more than 600,000 comments were submitted, with over 99 percent opposing rescission. This overwhelming and bipartisan public support underscores the continued popularity and importance of the Roadless Rule. Unsurprisingly, at just 30 days, the ongoing comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and proposed rule is equally insufficient, and we encourage the USFS to extend the comment period to 120 days for a fair and transparent process.
Given the extraordinary public interest in the Roadless Rule and the significant consequences that its repeal would have for communities across the country, the Forest Service should also conduct a robust series of in-person public meetings before finalizing any rescission. Additionally, Tribes are entitled to the opportunity to engage in robust consultation, as the repeal of the Rule will have dramatic consequences on their way of life. When the Roadless Rule was originally developed, the aforementioned 600 public meetings ensured that affected communities, Tribes, local governments, industry, recreation interests, and conservation organizations had the opportunity to engage directly with the agency. The proposal to repeal the Rule warrants the same level of public engagement. Public meetings should be held in regions where National Forest System roadless areas are most affected, providing local communities with a meaningful opportunity to ask questions, provide testimony, and ensure the administrative record reflects the perspectives of those who will experience the greatest impacts. A transparent, accessible, and geographically representative public engagement process is essential to maintaining public confidence in the rulemaking process and ensuring the agency fully considers the consequences of such a consequential policy change.
The enduring support for the Roadless Rule is rooted in its clear and measurable benefits. Over the past 25 years, the rule has helped protect watersheds, biodiversity, and ecosystem integrity by limiting road construction and large-scale logging in undeveloped areas. Forest Service data show that watersheds within roadless areas are far more likely to be in “properly functioning” condition compared to those outside of them, which are more often classified as “at risk” or “impaired.”1
These healthy ecosystems support a wide array of wildlife. Roadless areas provide habitat for hundreds of species listed or proposed for protection under the Endangered Species Act, including grizzly bears, lynx, and other sensitive species, and disproportionately support species of conservation concern. In addition, these areas play a vital role in climate resilience and carbon storage. For example, the Tongass National Forest alone stores over 1.5 billion metric tons of carbon and sequesters millions more annually.
Claims that the Roadless Rule impedes wildfire management are not supported by the evidence. The rule explicitly allows for wildfire prevention, suppression, and hazardous fuels reduction. In fact, nearly 2 million acres of roadless areas have undergone fuel treatments in recent years.2 Forest Service data also show that roadless areas account for a significant share of fuel treatment activities relative to their forest coverage. Research further indicates that wildfire risk is comparable inside and outside of roadless areas and that roads are not necessary to maintain forest health.
Moreover, scientific studies demonstrate that wildfire ignitions occur far more frequently in roaded areas due to human activity.3 By limiting road construction, the Roadless Rule helps reduce ignition risks from sources such as vehicles, campfires, and other human causes.
Finally, the economic benefits of the Roadless Rule are substantial. By avoiding the construction and maintenance of new roads, the rule saves taxpayers billions of dollars. The Forest Service already faces a road maintenance backlog of nearly $6 billion across its existing system.4 Expanding road networks into remote and often economically unviable areas would only increase these costs. At the same time, protected roadless areas support recreation, tourism, and outdoor economies, while safeguarding clean water and subsistence resources that communities rely on. When it comes to outdoor recreation, roadless areas encompass more than 25,000 miles of trails, 8,500 climbing routes, 1,000 miles of whitewater, and more than 10,000 miles of mountain biking trails across the country, all of which support a $1.3 trillion outdoor recreation economy. Additionally, hunters and anglers across the nation access these public lands where backcountry provides ample fishing and hunting. The Roadless Rule protects drinking water in 354 municipal watersheds, saving downstream communities millions of dollars in water filtration costs.5
After 25 years of successful implementation, the conclusion is clear: the Roadless Rule is effective, widely supported, and essential to responsible forest management. Rescinding it would undermine decades of progress and impose unnecessary environmental and fiscal costs.
1 https://www.wilderness.org/
2 https://subscriber.
3 Aplet G. et al. “Three-decade record of contiguous-U.S. national forest wildfires indicates increased density of ignitions near roads.” Fire Ecology; Balch J.K. et al., “Human-started wildfires expand the fire niche across the United States.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (2017) 11(114): 2946–2951.
4 https://www.taxpayer.net/
5 https://www.federalregister.
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