Resisting the Roadless Rule Rollback

It would be the single largest evisceration of public lands protections in American history.

President Donald Trump’s U.S. Department of Agriculture wants to undo a landmark 2001 policy called the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. This administrative rulemaking would open nearly 45 million acres of wild, unfragmented national forests to road construction, logging, and other development — killing imperiled species, fouling precious water, and raising wildfire risk.

This move would affect roadless areas in national forests across 37 states that have been protected from roads and logging for decades. It would harm a long list of federally protected species, including American wolverines, gray wolves, Canada lynx, grizzly bears, Quino checkerspot butterflies, and northern spotted owls.

Roadless forests are the beating heart of biodiversity — places where the wild can still be wild, where bears can be bears and salmon can be salmon. These areas protect drinking water, wildlife habitat, waterways, and recreation. Allowing roads and logging would fragment and destroy forest habitat, pollute streams and rivers with sediment, and cause harmful erosion. Many wildlife species expend precious energy to avoid roads and human interaction. Roads also increase human-caused wildfires: Research shows that from 1992 to 2024, wildfires were four times as likely in areas with roads than in roadless forest tracts. Another study showed that more than 90 percent of all U.S. wildfires happened within half a mile of a road, caused by things like unattended campfires or sparks from a vehicle.

The United States wisely protected these places decades ago. It’s heartbreaking that Trump is trying to throw that all away.

See what’s at risk in the Center for Biological Diversity’s map of the roadless areas at risks:

Which Species Are at Risk?

Since 2001, the Roadless Rule has helped protect critical habitat for animals and plants protected under the Endangered Species Act, with more species protected each year. Rescinding the rule would harm the wild homes of more than 500 protected species, including American wolverines, gray wolves, Canada lynx, grizzly bears, Quino checkerspot butterflies, and northern spotted owls (as well as countless species not protected under the Act, like Alexander Archipelago wolves and Queen Charlotte goshawks).

What Makes the Roadless Rule so Important?

National Forest Roadless areas …

  … Protect America’s drinking water: National forests are the headwaters of the country’s great rivers and the largest source of U.S. municipal water supplies, serving more than 60 million people in 33 states. Because the Roadless Rule protects many headwaters from roads — a major cause of water pollution — the rule is important for maintaining clean drinking water.

… Serve as biodiversity strongholds and important carbon sinks: Forest areas largely free of roads, logging, and development maintain large, connected habitats that species — especially wide-ranging or sensitive species — need to survive. Many roadless areas contain mature and old-growth forest, which absorb and store vast amounts of carbon that helps mitigate climate change.

… Save taxpayers money: Bulldozing more roads in national forests would be a drain on taxpayers. Even with the Roadless Rule in place, the U.S. Forest Service has a 380,000-mile road system — twice as long as the nation’s highway system — crisscrossing national forests. The Forest Service can’t afford to maintain it, resulting in a maintenance backlog that has ballooned to billions of dollars in needed repairs. Taxpayers have subsidized this overdeveloped road system and, if the Roadless Rule is rescinded, would be stuck footing the bill for any new roads built in backcountry forests.

… Are supported by millions of people: The Roadless Rule is a very popular policy that’s often celebrated as one of America’s most successful conservation measures. Prior to its enactment, 1.6 million Americans called for protection of roadless forests at more than 600 public hearings nationwide. More recently, more than 45 members of the House and Senate have signed onto legislation that would codify the Roadless Rule so that in the future, nobody can roll it back without an act of Congress.

Why Does the USDA Want to Strip Roadless Area Protections?

Rescinding protections for roadless areas ties back to Trump’s executive order directing the immediate expansion of domestic timber production. The order portrays these vital protections as overly burdensome regulations that prevent “fully exploit[ing] our domestic timber supply.” Trump also argues that logging roadless areas will prevent fire and improve fish and wildlife habitat — though the reality is quite the opposite.

This move would be a blatant giveaway to the timber industry and other corporate giants bent on industrializing these spectacular places and pushing too many species toward the brink of extinction.