Maintain National Forest Roadless Areas

Since 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has safeguarded some of our nation's most wild and intact national forest lands. The implementation of the Roadless Rule followed 600 local meetings as well as 1.6 million public comments, with 95% in support. Today 58 million acres of backcountry landscapes across 39 states are designated as Roadless Areas. The Roadless Rule did not close existing roads or trails, and exceptions to roadbuilding include access to inholdings and mineral leases. Additionally, select timber harvest is permitted within Inventoried Roadless Areas to reduce fire risk or to improve fish and wildlife habitat.  

On August 29, 2025, The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) published a Notice of Intent to rescind the Roadless Rule and to open 45 million acres of public lands to new roadbuilding and commercial timber harvest. There was a 21-day public comment period from August 29, 2025 to September 19, 2025, during which time public land owners could voice their opinion on the Notice of Intent to rescind the rule. In the coming weeks, BHA is anticipating the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), which will detail how exactly the administration plans to rescind or revise the Rule. When the DEIS is released, a new comment period will open up, and we will need to make our voices heard. 

The Roadless Rule is also facing threats in Congress. On February 25, 2026, Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-WY) introduced H.R. 7695, legislation that would repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule and direct the Forest Service to construct roads for certain forest management activities. On June 10th, in the Senate, Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) offered an amendment to repeal the Roadless Rule to S. 140, the Wildfire Prevention Act of 2025. This amendment advanced out of committee without any chance for public input or debate. 

The National Forest System already contains approximately 370,000 miles of roads. That's twice as many miles of roads than the entire U.S. National Highway System and enough to circumnavigate the globe more than 14 times! Repealing the Roadless Rule will directly result in an expansion of that development network across currently unfractured fish and wildlife habitat. Further, repealing the Roadless Rule will only increase fire risk on our public lands as a majority of wildfires are human-caused and occur within a half mile of a road.

Join BHA in opposition to rescinding the Roadless Rule.

Where the road ends, the adventure begins.