Trump Administration Moves to Repeal Roadless Rule on 59 Million Forest Acres
Updated
Updated · Ars Technica · Aug 22
Trump Administration Moves to Repeal Roadless Rule on 59 Million Forest Acres
3 articles · Updated · Ars Technica · Aug 22
Summary
Nearly 59 million acres of national forest would lose federal limits on road building and logging under the administration’s formal proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule.
A 30-day public comment period will begin after the proposal is published in the Federal Register, as officials argue the rule has slowed economic development.
The rollback would affect some of the last undeveloped national forest lands—about 5% of the lower 48 remains roadless—and includes southeast Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.
Congress is also weighing an amendment to the Wildfire Prevention Act that would scrap the rule in law and bar the U.S. Forest Service from restoring it later.
Created by President Bill Clinton in 2001, the rule restricts road construction, maintenance and commercial timber harvest across roadless areas in 38 states and Puerto Rico.
Could opening millions of acres of protected forests actually increase wildfire risks instead of preventing them?
How might new industrial roads in untouched wilderness irreversibly alter the future of endangered wildlife corridors?
The Battle Over 58 Million Acres: The 2025–2026 Push to Repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and Its National Impacts
Overview
The push to repeal the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule is advancing quickly through both administrative and legislative channels. After Secretary Rollins announced the rollback in June 2025, the USDA began the formal repeal process and later removed key NEPA regulations, making it easier to approve logging and road building. At the same time, Congress moved forward with bills to strip the rule and expand forest thinning. These changes would open millions of acres to new roads and logging, fragmenting vital habitats, increasing wildfire risks, and threatening clean water supplies and tribal rights. In response, lawmakers have introduced new legislation to permanently protect these lands.