Tell the USDA: Keep the Roadless Rule

The Trump administration has proposed eliminating the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, jeopardizing nearly 45 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forestland managed by the U.S. Forest Service – roughly one-third of the national forest system. 

For nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has helped keep these forests intact and protected from the roads and industrial development that can follow. These are not empty spaces waiting to be developed. Roadless forests provide vital wildlife habitat, protect drinking water, support hunting and fishing, and sustain recreation. Eliminating the Roadless Rule would fragment these fragile habitats, threaten water quality, and open the door to logging and mining operations on public lands. 

The U.S. Forest Service already manages roughly 370,000 miles of roads and faces a multibillion-dollar maintenance backlog. Taxpayers shouldn’t be asked to fund more roads into remote forests for the benefit of private extraction and profits. 

This isn’t about improving forest management or mitigating wildfire risk. It’s about the Trump administration wanting to boost logging across the country and pad the profits of their donors. Instead of opening up public lands for logging and development, we should be investing in science-based forest management and climate resilience. 

Our public lands belong to all of us. Tell the Trump administration: Keep the Roadless Rule and protect nearly 45 million acres of America’s remaining wild forests →