The Trump administration announced Tuesday that it is proceeding with plans to repeal a quarter-century-old restriction on logging, road construction and development in national forest lands, drawing opposition from environmental groups across the country.
The U.S. Forest Service is filing a proposal to overturn the so-called roadless rule enacted during the final days of Bill Clinton’s presidency in 2001. Officials described the policy as a rigid mandate that has constrained land managers and hindered efforts to curb wildfire hazards across public lands.
“Our forests can’t afford another decade of inaction. Across the country, we’ve watched preventable conditions — overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease — turn healthy landscapes into tinderboxes,” U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement.
Scientists attribute intensifying wildfires to a combination of climate change warming and drying out forests, reduced commercial logging, and decades of aggressive fire suppression that permitted excess fuels to accumulate.
Clinton originally implemented the regulation to protect untouched national forest areas from timber harvesting and mineral leasing, aiming to maintain pristine ecosystems and safeguard freshwater sources.
Describing the rule as a failure, Rollins said the proposed revision intends to return authority to local forest managers and eliminate obstacles that have prevented them from enhancing forest health across millions of acres.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, the roadless rule currently applies to roughly 30% of national forest land, encompassing about 59 million acres (24 million hectares).
Public feedback will be gathered on the proposal alongside a draft environmental impact statement published Tuesday in the Federal Register. Federal authorities noted that while revoking the designation removes national roadless status, it does not explicitly mandate logging operations or road building.
The official proposal follows an earlier announcement by the Trump administration during a Western governors’ meeting in New Mexico last summer.
Conservationists have warned of potential fallout since then, reiterating on Tuesday that lifting protective measures would harm old-growth ecosystems, wildlife habitats and drinking water supplies.
“Americans across the political spectrum have made it crystal clear that they don’t want political appointees removing protections from public lands,” said Chris Krupp, an attorney with the group WildEarth Guardians. “It would be a gross misreading of public sentiment to take the roadless rule away from Americans and our wildlife, and politicians do so at their jeopardy.”
Organizations including the Alaska Wilderness League expressed concern over what the change could mean for areas like Alaska’s Tongass National Forest, the country’s largest national forest and a longstanding point of contention. Local political leaders have advocated for exemptions, contending the rule limits regional economic growth.
During the final stretch of Trump’s first term, federal officials lifted logging and road construction limits in the Tongass, a decision later reversed under the Biden administration.
Emma Powell, government affairs manager for the Alaska Wilderness League, characterized the Tongass as an invaluable national asset supporting salmon runs and diverse species, noting that regional livelihoods and cultural traditions are tied to the forest.
“From fisheries to tourism and outdoor recreation, these landscapes also support thousands of jobs and generate billions in economic activity each year,” Powell said.
Alex Craven, forest campaign manager for the Sierra Club, disputed assertions that scrapping the regulation would facilitate wildfire reduction. Craven argued that constructing additional roads often increases fire hazards and emphasized that existing rules never prevented targeted fuel management by the Forest Service.
He confirmed that the Sierra Club alongside partner groups would contest the proposal at every stage.
The public comment period closes on Sept. 21.
