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The Forest Service has proposed repealing the 2001 Roadless Rule, which protects 58.5 million acres of national forest from most road building and logging. Public comments close October 6, and more than 219,000 have already been filed.

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The Agriculture Department proposed on August 20 to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which bars most road construction and timber cutting on 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas in the national forests. On September 11 it extended the comment deadline 15 days, to October 6, 2026. The stated reasons are wildfire risk, insect and disease outbreaks, and returning decisions to local forest officials. The agency's own analysis says permanent roads would become possible on about 18.2 million acres where forest plans allow them, that sawtimber harvest could rise 5 to 10 percent if every eligible area were cut (which it calls unlikely), and that its effects could exceed $100 million. It says the repeal 'does not mandate timber cutting or road construction.' Idaho's and Colorado's state roadless rules would stay in place. Most tribal governments consulted oppose it.

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Since 2001, a federal rule has kept most road building and logging out of 58.5 million acres of national forest, the "inventoried roadless areas." The Forest Service now proposes to remove it.

What is proposed

The proposal, published August 20, would "rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule." Decisions about what may happen in those areas would go back to local Forest Service officials under each forest's management plan.

Two states keep their own rules. "The state-specific roadless rules for Idaho … and Colorado … will not be affected by this proposed rule and will remain in effect." In Alaska, a separate executive order has already directed the department to reinstate the 2020 rule that exempted the Tongass National Forest.

The reasons given

The department cites "increasing wildfire risk, the spread of insect and disease infestations, and the need for community protection in the wildland-urban interface." About 9.8 million acres of the wildland-urban interface, 24 percent, overlap roadless areas. The 2001 rule, it says, "limited the Forest Service's ability to conduct vegetation management."

It also stresses what repeal would not do:

This proposed rescission does not mandate timber cutting or road construction but would relieve regulatory burden relative to management of National Forest System lands.

Any project would still need its own environmental review. And in the agency's summary of effects: "management opportunities would be modest and localized."

The agency's own numbers

  • Roads: permanent roads become possible where forest plans allow them, about 18.2 million acres. Temporary roads are likeliest within half a mile of existing roads, about 11.3 million acres.
  • Logging: about 4.8 million acres of forest would become eligible. If all of it were harvested, which the agency calls unlikely, national forest sawtimber harvest could rise 5 to 10 percent, earning $5.2 to $11.4 million a year for the government and $4.6 to $10.6 million for the timber industry.
  • Recreation: about $6.1 million a year in lost benefits.
  • Overall: "the additional impacts associated with the proposed rule could exceed $100 million," which makes it economically significant.
  • Road upkeep: the Forest Service already carries a "$6.9 billion deferred maintenance backlog for roads and bridges."

Who has weighed in

  • An earlier notice in 2025 drew "more than 220,000 comment letters on behalf of over 625,000 individuals and organizations."
  • The proposal itself had more than 219,000 comments on the docket as of September
  • Tribes: "The majority sentiment among Tribal governments consulted is opposition to the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule." Twenty-nine consultations had been held.

How to comment

Comments are due October 6, 2026, in docket FS-2025-0001 at regulations.gov, or by mail to the Director, Ecosystem Management Coordination, 201 14th Street SW, Mailstop 1108, Washington, DC 20250-1124. A draft environmental impact statement, including state maps, is in the same docket. Public subsistence hearings in Alaska are promised, with dates to be announced.

What the documents do not say

  • Which states and how many acres in each. The draft environmental statement's map volume has that; the rule does not.
  • How many miles of road could be built.
  • When a final rule is expected.

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