Roadless bill would enshrine critical protections across public forests

Today, Senators Maria Cantwell (WA) and Ruben Gallego (AZ) and Representatives Andrea Salinas (OR-06) and Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03) introduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act (RACA), which would codify the 2001 Roadless Rule, a pillar in conservation policy that’s successfully protected 58.5 million acres of public forests from road building and logging. 

The introduction of the bill comes at a critical moment as the Trump administration and its allies in Congress aim to deepen the pockets of private industry by logging across our shared, public forests and ultimately dismantle the Forest Service. 

In response to the bill introduction, The Wilderness Society issued the following statement: 

"Our nation's public forests are the places we camp, fish, hunt and play, as well as abundant sources of clear air and water, and the Roadless Rule has been critical for keeping them as such," said Michelle Gullett, Senior Government Relations Representative at The Wilderness Society. "The Roadless Area Conservation Act couldn't be reintroduced at a better time, signaling that we must keep our roadless areas intact, despite the Trump administration's efforts to hand public lands over to private industry. Congress should pass this bill and send the message that our public forests must be managed sustainably and on behalf of us all." 

Though the Roadless Rule is decades old, it has never been codified by Congress. This makes it vulnerable to the whims of the Trump administration, which has already targeted rescinding the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest to log its old-growth through Executive Order, “Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential.”  

The introduction of this bill is the next step in making the Roadless Rule permanent and ensuring fringe lawmakers can’t open undeveloped forests for logging and road building. 

To connect with The Wilderness Society’s forest policy experts and scientists, contact edenny@tws.org