More than 625,000 people commented on the proposed rollback of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule

Thanks to you and people like you, more than half a million people weighed in during the comment period that ended on Sept 19. Ninety-nine percent of comments were in favor of protecting wild roadless forests.

What happens now?

The Forest Service will now analyze all of the comments and consult with various parties to develop their proposal (called the “Draft Environmental Impact Statement”). We expect that proposal and another comment period this spring

Join Public Meetings across the country to speak up for Roadless Forests

Before enacting the Roadless Area Conservation Rule in 2001, the administration held approximately 600 public meetings to share their plans and get public feedback. The current administration has not announced any public meetings so groups across the country are organizing their own.

This list of public meetings will be updated as they are organized and we will link to RSVP forms as they go live:

Alaska

  • Juneau - April 1

  • Kake - April 3

Arizona

  • Flagstaff - TBD

  • Tucson - TBD

California

  • Tahoe - April 6

  • Sacramento - TBD - April

  • Los Angeles -TBD - April

  • South Lake Tahoe / Truckee / Earth Day events TBD - April

Indiana

  • Bloomington - April 4

Kentucky

Montana

  • Kalispell - March 4

  • Libby - March 5

  • Missoula - March 9

  • Hamilton - March 10

  • Butte - March 11

  • Bozeman - March 12

  • Helena - March 13

  • Bozeman, Helena, Red Lodge - TBD

  • Nevada Tahoe (joint event with CA)

New Hampshire

  • Conway - TBD

New Mexico

  • Albuquerque - TBD

  • Silver City - TBD

  • Taos - TBD

  • Las Cruces - TBD

  • Pecos - TBD

North Carolina

  • Asheville - TBD

Oregon

  • Portland - April 8

  • Bend - April 6

  • Eugene - April 14 , 5-7pm

Tennesee

Utah

  • Salt Lake City - TBD

Vermont

Washington State

  • Seattle - TBD

  • Methow Valley* week of April 27th

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

  • Laramie - TBD

  • Jackson - April 9th

  • Sheridan - TBD

  • Cody - TBD

  • Lander - TBD

Background about the Roadless Rule

Find the roadless area nearest you using this map (credit: Outdoor Alliance)

On June 23, Secretary Rollins announced that the USDA is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule. 

On Aug 29, the USDA published a notice of intent, kicking off a 21 -day comment period which ends September 19. The scoping period set the stage for the rulemaking. This was our opportunity to inform the USDA about which issues are important and therefore, which issues they should address when developing the EIS. We expect the DEIS this spring.

The proposed rollback of the 2001 Roadless Rule jeopardizes nearly 45 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forestland managed by the U.S. Forest Service, comprising around a third of the territory in our national forest system. These forests have only remained intact because of the Forest Service’s nearly 25-year-old commitment not to build roads in these areas for harmful activities like major logging operations or oil-and-gas drilling.

Since 2001, protected roadless areas have offered abundant outdoor recreation opportunities such as hunting, fishing, camping or other activities. Every year, millions of people take advantage of the free (or extremely affordable) access to these public lands. According to maps from Outdoor Alliance’s GIS Lab, roadless areas protect 11,337 climbing routes and boulder problems, more than 1,000 whitewater paddling runs, 43,826 miles of trail, and 20,298 mountain biking trails. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Trails traverse protected roadless areas.