Why the Roadless Rule Matters and How It’s Under Threat

Ashley Goes Hiking
Aug 5
5 min read

Updated: Aug 30

58 million acres of national forest land across the U.S. are currently protected from road-building, logging, and mining…but the government has announced they want to change that.

These places are protected by what’s called “The Roadless Rule”. These roadless places are critical for our ecology, water, wildlife, and climate resilience and now, they’re under threat.

8/29/25 Update: The public comment period is officially open. You can submit a comment HERE. Comments can be submitted until September 19, 2025.

What Is the Roadless Rule?

The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule prohibits road construction and logging in designated “inventoried roadless areas” across national forests. These areas aren’t formal wilderness, but they’re some of the last intact landscapes in the U.S. and many times border wilderness areas.

They include mountain ranges, watersheds, deserts, and old-growth forests, essentially places that still feel wild.

⚠️ How They Can Rescind It: The Rulemaking Process

You might wonder: how can a protection this big just be reversed?

Here’s how it works:

The agency (in this case, the U.S. Forest Service or USDA) proposes a change to an existing regulation like rescinding the Roadless Rule. On June 23, 2025 Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the agency’s intent to rescind the Roadless Rule.
They publish the proposed rule change in the Federal Register and open a public comment period (usually 30 to 90 days). Here, it’s only 21 days.
You can submit written comments supporting or opposing the change.
The agency must read, consider, and respond to substantive comments before finalizing the rule.
A Final Rule is published and takes effect unless it’s challenged in court.

This process is required under the Administrative Procedure Act. It’s designed to prevent behind-closed-doors decisions and gives the public a legal right to weigh in.

This process is different than laws being passed in Congress, however, your representatives and Senators won’t be voting on this rescission - it’s done through the administrative law process, which means the power to use your voice is during the comment period and doesn’t stem from encouraging your elected officials to vote “yes” or “no” on something. That’s why it’s so important to submit a public comment!

📢 What’s a Public Comment Period? And Why It Matters

The public comment period is your chance to directly influence policy. It’s not just a formality because agencies are required to consider and respond to your input.

To submit a strong comment:

Use your own words.
State clearly why you oppose (or support) the proposed change.
Reference science, data, personal experience, or public interest.
Avoid form letters; unique comments carry more weight.

📍 You’ll submit your comment online through regulations.gov or the Forest Service’s website during the open period.

Your comment could help:

Delay or halt the rollback
Force revisions to the rule
Provide legal backing in court challenges

This graphic simplifies the Rulemaking process to an extent, but it’s an easy way to see where we’re at in the process. Now, for this specific comment period the USDA has issued a Notice of Intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. Lots of words, I know. Essentially they’re saying “hey, public, we’re going to be preparing this environmental analysis which will show why we can rescind this rule.” But before they can do that they have to get public comments, which is why we’re at this public comment stage.

Basically, anything we comment or raise during this comment period, as long as it raises significant issues, will have to be addressed by that environmental impact statement. So, if your local roadless area is a habitat for bald eagles or a rare salamander - voice that concern! Unique and specific concerns are the biggest hurdle they have to overcome because they have to explain how that concern will be addressed.

Forward looking to the timeline set forth by the USDA, they think they’ll have their draft environmental statement done in the spring of 2026. Once that is published then another comment period will open up.

The reason it’s so important members of the public like you and me act now during this comment period is because that environmental impact statement will be technical and drafted for the experts. We of course can comment during that second comment period but the comments that are taken most seriously during comments on an environmental statement are usually comments from the experts like biologists, archaeologists, soil experts etc. I of course plan to comment during both comment periods, but know that this first one is really the best opportunity to give any sort of laypersons perspective.

🌿 Why Roadless Areas Matter

These lands are more than beautiful…they’re essential:

Wildlife corridors: No roads = uninterrupted habitat for bears, elk, wolves, and threatened species.
Fire resilience: Intact forests resist invasive species and retain moisture. Roads dry them out and spark fires.
Clean water: Roadless areas protect the headwaters that feed our rivers and lakes.

🌵 Western Roadless Area Examples

🏜️ Goldfield Mountains, Arizona

A desert range in the Tonto National Forest with rugged canyons, saguaro forests, and critical wildlife habitat. These areas help protect downstream reservoirs like Saguaro Lake.

🌲 Dark Divide, Washington

A massive, roadless landscape between Mount St. Helens and Mount Adams. Home to rare species like the northern spotted owl and ancient forest ecosystems.

🏞️ Russian Wilderness Complex, California

Adjacent to the Klamath River, this area hosts a diverse mix of conifers, alpine lakes, and steep granite ridges. It connects critical wildlife migration corridors.

🚧 What Happens When Roads Are Built?

Roads might sound harmless, but they open the door to long-term damage:

🪓 Logging & Mining

Roads enable extractive industries to enter, leading to tree removal, erosion, and habitat loss. In some cases, they’re built only to access one logging site and then abandoned.

🔥 Wildfires

Roads introduce fire risk. Most human-caused wildfires begin near roads due to vehicles, campfires, powerlines, or other activities. Fragmented forests are more vulnerable.

🌊 Water & Soil Damage

Roads increase erosion, send sediment into rivers, and alter natural drainage. That means dirtier water for fish, wildlife, and human communities.

🐾 Wildlife Mortality

Roads break up habitat and lead to more animal-vehicle collisions, especially for species like mountain lions, bears, and deer.

🚨 What’s Happening Now

In June 2025, the USDA announced plans to rescind the Roadless Rule potentially opening the door to road-building, mining, and logging in roadless areas nationwide.

This includes some of the most ecologically rich and fire-resilient forests left in the U.S.

The comment period is OPEN August 29 - September 19, 2025. It’s our opportunity as the public to voice our opposition to rescinding the rule.

✊ How You Can Help

✔️ Speak up during the public comment period, open August 29, 2025 - September 19, 2025.

✔️ Share this info on social media to educate others.

✔️ Support conservation nonprofits that are monitoring and litigating this rule.

Let’s Keep It Roadless

This is about more than trees. It’s about protecting the places that store carbon, shelter wildlife, provide clean water, and remind us what it means to be wild.

Public lands belong to all of us. And the rule that protects them can only stand if we do.

Let’s keep them roadless.