USDA announced it is moving to rescind a 25-year-old rule that limits road construction and timber harvesting across millions of acres of national forests, saying the change will give local forest managers more flexibility to reduce wildfire risks and improve forest health.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) filed a proposed rule to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule in its entirety.
“For too long, outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to the very treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities,” Rollins said.
USDA said more than 44 million acres of the 193-million-acre National Forest System remain covered by the national rule. More than 95% of those roadless areas are located in 10 western states. Colorado and Idaho would not be affected because they operate under separate, state-specific roadless rules that the proposed regulation would leave intact.
USFS Chief Tom Schultz said the change is needed because more than 40% of inventoried roadless areas have high or very high wildfire hazard potential, while only 5% have received hazardous fuels treatments since 2014.
“Active forest management is not an option. It’s essential,” Schultz said.
Rather than automatically opening roadless areas to development, USDA said rescission would return decisions to individual national forests and their existing land management plans. The proposal itself would not authorize specific timber harvests or road projects. Future projects would still have to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act and other applicable laws.
USFS’ analysis found that rescission could expand opportunities for active forest management on about 4.8 million acres where existing forest plans and operating conditions allow it. If all those areas were harvested annually, an outcome USDA called unlikely, the National Forest System sawtimber harvest could increase 5-10%. The agency also noted that additional road construction would face financial constraints, including a $6.9 billion deferred maintenance backlog for roads and bridges.
Republican governors Greg Gianforte of Montana, Spencer Cox of Utah and Mark Gordon of Wyoming praised the proposed rescission, arguing the Roadless Rule has limited local land managers’ ability to address wildfire risks and other forest management needs. The governors said returning more decision-making authority to the local level would give states and USFS officials greater flexibility to respond to conditions on the ground, improve forest health, reduce wildfire threats and better consider the needs of surrounding communities.
Opposition to proposal
Environmental organizations strongly oppose the proposal and dispute USDA’s wildfire argument.
Citing recent research, the groups argue that building more roads could increase the risk of wildfire ignitions, disrupt wildlife habitat and affect water supplies.
Earthjustice President Abigail Dillen said the Roadless Rule has protected forests, water and wildlife for 25 years and pledged that the organization would continue defending it.
“Now, the Trump administration wants to gut the rule and open up 45 million acres of roadless forest to clear-cutting and other harmful development enabled by roading,” Dillen said. “Scientists, wildland firefighters, and hundreds of thousands of Americans have fiercely opposed this attack on our public lands.”
The Center for Western Priorities also criticized the proposal, saying an analysis of comments submitted during an earlier public process showed 99% opposed rescinding the rule. The agency received more than 220,000 comment letters representing more than 625,000 individuals and organizations.
“Now USDA is back with the same idea, dressed up as a move to reduce wildfire risk even though it will degrade drinking water, fragment wildlife habitat, and increase the Forest Service’s $10 billion road maintenance backlog,” Center for Western Priorities Communications Manager Kate Groetzinger said.
Tribal governments have also pushed back against rescinding the Roadless Rule, passing two resolutions in 2025 that called the move a violation of treaty rights, federal trust responsibilities and federal law. Tribal leaders are asking USDA to halt the process and provide meaningful government-to-government consultation. They also want a larger role in future forest management decisions, including opportunities for co-management and greater consideration of impacts on treaty rights, cultural resources, subsistence, water and climate resilience.
USDA is accepting public comments on the proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement through Sept. 21. Comments can be made at regulations.gov with docket number FS-2025-0001 or RIN 0596-AD66. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
1 Comment