What is the Roadless Rule?
The U.S. Forest Service is on the verge of making a disastrous decision to remove the Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Roadless Rule), a bedrock policy safeguarding some of our wildest places. Enacted 25 years ago, the Roadless Rule protects roughly one-quarter of all national forests from road construction and commercial timber harvest. These protections have been instrumental in ensuring portions of the national forest system remain intact and continue to support high biodiversity – ecosystems where a wide variety of species coexist.
Roadless areas are undeveloped tracts of land within national forests where new road construction and logging are not allowed. These areas offer prime wildlife habitat with less impacts of invasive species, fragmentation and human disturbance.
To illustrate what’s at stake for wildlife, Defenders of Wildlife created two comprehensive digital maps. The interactive map and story map work together to provide both a broad overview and a detailed look at the places and wildlife impacted by the removal of the Roadless Rule.
Interactive USA Map: Find At-Risk Wildlife Living in Your State
The proposed rule rescission would strip roadless protections in national forests in 36 states, possibly including yours. This interactive map makes it easy to find the at-risk animals in your local area!
The user-friendly tool works much like Google maps. You can search for species in roadless areas by zooming in on different parts of the map, typing in your ZIP code or city, or simply clicking on a state. You can even use the “Find My Location” icon in the bottom-right corner to automatically center the map on your current location.
The map uses different shades of green to highlight roadless areas in national forests, with darker shades representing regions with a higher number of at-risk species. From there, you can discover how many at-risk species overlap each roadless area and which national forest that area is part of. Some of these species may be just miles away from where you live, work or enjoy the outdoors.
The Story of a Dozen At-Risk Animals
The story map takes an in-depth look at a dozen at-risk species across the country that benefit from roadless protections. It’s a guided storytelling tool that walks you through each species’ unique traits, habitats and conservation challenges. Roadless areas contain habitat for 57% of vulnerable wildlife. Featured animals provide just a glimpse of the wildlife that could be impacted by the rescission of the Roadless Rule.
Several of our beloved wildlife with limited distributions benefit from the conservation protections of roadless areas, and some species with tiny populations are extremely reliant on them. Take the relictual slender salamander, an animal no larger than a crayon, for example.
This salamander’s habitat lies on a single mountaintop in California’s Sierra Nevada, and about half of its range lies within roadless areas. This species doesn’t exist anywhere else on the planet. Outside of protected roadless areas, its habitat has already been damaged by roads and logging.
Make a Difference
Together, these maps help tell a compelling story of why the Roadless Rule matters for wildlife. A rescission would affect species across the entire country, from fish to frogs to foxes and everything in between. The proposal is rooted in politics rather than science.
Defenders encourages you to take action! Whether it’s writing a letter to your local newspaper or submitting a comment, you have the power to make a real difference. These maps can be a great resource in helping craft a personalized message about the value of roadless forests for wildlife in your area.
The difference starts with you. Your voice counts!
Author
Keats Conley
