USDA Moves to Repeal Roadless Rule, Reigniting Fight for Public Lands

The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced its formal repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a rule that for 25 years has protected millions of acres of undeveloped forest land  from road building and industrial logging.  

“The Roadless Rule is one of the best ideas the U.S. Forest Service has ever had and repealing it is one of the worst,” said Vera Smith, national forests and public lands program director at Defenders of Wildlife. “This move will literally pave the way for the timber industry to clearcut backcountry forests that house endangered wildlife and are source waters for important fisheries and communities.”

Repealing the rule would remove protection for 45 million acres across the National Forest System, opening up major swaths of natural habitat to large-scale logging under the guise of reducing fire risk and a falsified timber emergency.

“For the last quarter century, the Roadless Rule has effectively protected habitats from excessively dense road networks that characterize much of our national forest system outside of roadless and wilderness areas,” said Dr. Keats Conley senior planning and policy specialist at Defenders of Wildlife. “We know that high road densities lead to declines of coldwater fish, grizzly bears, elk and other wildlife, and can even lead to extirpation of sensitive species.”

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule was enacted in 2001 to conserve roadless wilderness and to address safety, budgetary and environmental concerns plaguing the oversized American road system. It disallowed road construction and commercial logging to safeguard roadless area characteristics including intact groves of old-growth forests and habitat for threatened, endangered and sensitive species. From the lynx, mountain goats and gray wolves that rely on glacial valleys in the North Cascades to the renowned ecosystem of the Tongass National Forest, countless native wildlife species depend on roadless landscapes protected by the rule.  

“The Roadless Rule prohibits bulldozing over American treasures like the Tongass for commercial logging and roadbuilding, and rescinding this rule will come at great ecological and taxpayer expense,” said Nicole Whittington-Evans, senior director of Alaska and Northwest programs at Defenders of Wildlife. “This scam is cloaked in efficiency and necessity.ut But in reality, it will liquidate precious old-growth forest lands critical to Alaska Natives, local communities, tourists and countless wildlife, who all depend on intact habitat for subsistence harvesting, recreation and shelter. Rare and ancient trees will be shipped off at a loss to taxpayers, meaning that Americans will subsidize the destruction of our own natural heritage.”  

"In the Pacific Northwest, several wildlife species simply won’t exist without intact habitat provided by roadless landscapes,” said Joseph Vaile, senior representative of the Northwest program at Defenders of Wildlife. “Roadless lands provide a safe haven for rare animals like the coastal marten, Pacific fisher and the Sierra Nevada red fox."

Background:

U.S. Forest Service roadless areas have remarkable conservation value, supporting thousands of native species, including over 220 protected under the Endangered Species Act. These lands provide large, relatively undisturbed blocks of habitat and serve as natural defense against invasive species, parasites and diseases. As one research study concluded, Forest Service roadless areas are “one of the most important biotic areas in the nation,” and their status as roadless areas could have lasting and far-reaching effects for biodiversity.

The Forest Service currently manages 370,000 miles of roads within national forests, which is enough to circle the globe more than 15 times. The Forest Service cannot afford to maintain this enormous road system, leading to a many billion-dollar bill for taxpayers and widespread damage to forest resources including wildlife.  

For example, the Forest Service road network outside of Wilderness and Inventoried Roadless Areas is so dense —exceeding two miles per square mile— that it is detrimental to fish and wildlife populations. Populations of large mammals and coldwater fish have been shown to decline when road densities climb higher than one mile per square mile.

In addition to ecological damage, the Forest Service’s bloated road system drains taxpayer coffers. In 2024, the Forest Service reported a $6-billion backlog in road maintenance for the passenger vehicle roads that account for less than 18% of its total road system.