Trump Administration Moves to Repeal Roadless Rule Across 44 Million Acres of National Forests

The Trump administration has formally proposed repealing the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, potentially reopening more than 44 million acres of national forest land to road construction and other management activities. The U.S. Forest Service said the change would give local forest managers greater authority to address wildfire risk, forest health and economic uses.

• The proposal would rescind the 25-year-old national rule in its entirety, removing restrictions on road construction across more than 44 million acres of the 193-million-acre National Forest System.
• The Forest Service emphasized that repeal would not itself authorize logging or road construction; individual projects would remain subject to existing laws, regulations and forest-level planning.
• More than 95% of affected roadless areas are concentrated in 10 Western states, including roughly 9 million acres in Alaska's Tongass National Forest.
• Colorado and Idaho are excluded because their national forests operate under separate state-specific roadless rules.
• The administration says more than 40% of inventoried roadless areas face high or very high wildfire hazard, while 5% have received hazardous-fuels treatments since 2014.
• Public comments on the proposed rule and draft environmental impact statement are due Sept. 21.
• The policy has also been the subject of federal lobbying: 2025-26 LDA filings show organizations lobbying USDA, the Forest Service and Congress on the Roadless Rule, the administration's expansion of timber production and related forest-management legislation. Industry groups including the American Forest Resource Council have separately urged the Forest Service to rescind the rule.

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Editor’s Note: This is a developing story. This article may be updated as more details become available.