58+ million acres of public forests at risk of logging, development
U.S. Forest Service staff in Russel Fjord Wilderness, part of Tongass National Forest, Alaska
Paul A. Robbins, USFS, Flickr
USDA plans to revoke Roadless Rule, giving private industry access to pristine public forests
Washington D.C (June 23, 2025) -- Today, USDA Secretary Rollins announced the administration's plans to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule across the National Forest System including in the Tongass National Forest, one of the last remaining intact temperate rainforests in the world.
Josh Hicks, conservation campaigns director at The Wilderness Society, issued the following statement in response to this news:
“Our nation’s public forests belong to all of us, but the Trump Administration is treating them as property for the private industry to clearcut, drill and profit. Today’s announcement to revoke a pillar conservation policy is yet another example of such. The Roadless Rule has been remarkably successful in protecting our nation’s forests from destructive energy development, mining, logging and road building for nearly 25 years. Any attempt to revoke it is an attack on the air and water we breath and drink, abundant recreational opportunities which millions of people enjoy each year, havens for wildlife and critical buffers for communities threatened by increasingly severe wildfire seasons.”
The Roadless Rule protects 58.5 million acres of national forest lands that provide exceptional recreation, wildlife and fish habitat, clean water and other important ecosystem services to all Americans, along with significant economic benefits. It was adopted at the end of the Clinton Administration in 2001 after the most extensive public involvement process in Forest Service history. The Bush Administration attempted to repeal the Roadless Rule in 2005 but lost in the courts.
