USFS Moves to Rescind the Roadless Rule - Make Your Voice Heard 

On August 18, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) had filed a proposed rule to fully rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, alongside a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). In addition to full rescission, the DEIS evaluates alternatives that would either leave the rule in place or modify protections across millions of acres of currently inventoried roadless areas. 

The proposed rule was published on August 20, opening a public comment period through September 21. Hunters and anglers have just 30 days to make our voices heard. 

For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has conserved some of our nation's most intact fish and wildlife habitat, protected clean water and sustained outstanding backcountry hunting and fishing opportunities. And roadless does not mean unmanaged. The rule allows important management activities, including hazardous fuels reduction and habitat restoration, while keeping these lands open to hunting, fishing, grazing and recreation. 

Claims that wholesale rescission is necessary to address wildfire risk aren't true. The Roadless Rule already provides flexibility for fuels treatments and other management activities without requiring permanent new roads. And recent research found that wildfire ignitions were roughly four times more likely to occur near roads than in roadless forests, underscoring that more roads are not necessarily the answer to wildfire risk. 

The Roadless Rule also makes fiscal sense. The Forest Service already manages roughly 370,000 miles of roads and faces approximately $10.8 billion in deferred maintenance, with more than half attributable to roads alone. Adding new roads and long-term maintenance obligations won't solve that problem. 

Backcountry Hunters and Anglers supports active, science-based forest management to address wildfire, forest health and responsible access. But wholesale elimination of the Roadless Rule is not the answer - it would remove longstanding protections from more than 44 million acres of national forest backcountry across 37 states. 

Hunters and anglers need to speak up. Tell the Forest Service to keep our roadless areas wild, productive and accessible for generations to come and support the No Action Alternative. Submit your comments by September 21. 

While this Action Alert responds directly to USDA's proposed rule, BHA also believes it is important that Congress hear from hunters and anglers. By taking action below, your message will be delivered to your members of Congress, and you will be included as a signer on BHA's public comment opposing this proposed rule (below). We also strongly encourage you to submit a personalized comment through the Federal eRulemaking Portal by searching RIN 0596-AD66 or docket FS-2025-0001. Personalized comments that describe your experiences hunting, fishing, or recreating in roadless areas can help demonstrate why these landscapes matter.