Intact landscapes are essential to protect biodiversity. Undeveloped lands in National Forests provide habitat for more than 1,600 threatened or endangered plants and animals, including grizzly bear and Canada lynx. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule of 2001 (Roadless Rule) is hailed as one of America’s most successful conservation measures. The Roadless Rule protects undeveloped, road-free places on our national forest by placing these areas off limits to logging and road construction, with limited exceptions.
The Roadless Rule:
- was adopted with massive public support to protect 58.5 million acres of roadless national forest land in 39 states
- was the result of years of work and public input. The public comment period set a record with 1.6 million public comments submitted. 95% supporting strong roadless area protection
Roadless Areas:
- contain all or portions of 354 municipal watersheds, serving as the source of drinking water for more than 60 million Americans
- protects 8,659 climbing routes and bouldering problems, 768 miles of whitewater paddling runs, and 25,121 miles of trails
Roadless Rule Under Attack
This essential conservation measure is attack! On June 23, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced her intention to rescind the Roadless Rule. On August 29, the next step in this process started, with a notice on the Federal Register starting a comment period that ends on September 19. This current process will kill the roadless rule across the country including Alaska except for Colorado and Idaho that have their own (weaker) rules. But if this process is successful, Colorado and Idaho could well be next.
You Can Help
We must let the government know about the massive support for the Roadless Rule. Your voice can make a difference. Please take a few minutes to submit a comment in support of wildlife, clean water, recreation, and so much more! The comment period ends September 19, 2025 so PLEASE ACT NOW!
Resources
- National Roadless Rule Fact Sheet (pdf)
- Writing Comments That Stick (pdf)
- Roads & Fire Risk Analysis (2025) (pdf) – Latest research proving roads increase wildfire risk—essential data to counter government and industry claims
- Congressional Research Service Report – Non-partisan analysis of the Roadless Rule’s history, legal framework, and policy implications.