No Roads. No Going Back. — The Roadless Rule Repeal

HOW WE GOT HERE

Twenty-five years, undone in thirty days

2001

The Roadless Rule takes effect

Clinton-era protection locks down road construction and logging across 58.5 million inventoried acres of National Forest System land — the last large-scale wild ground left in the Lower 48 and Alaska.

Aug 2025

Notice of Intent

USDA signals the rescission

Secretary Brooke Rollins opens a 21-day comment window on a full repeal, framing it as removing a "one-size-fits-all" barrier to wildfire management.

Aug 18–20, 2026

Proposed Rule Filed

The rule is formally proposed

USDA announces the proposed rule on Aug 18; it is filed Aug 19 and published in the Federal Register on Aug 20, together with a three-volume draft Environmental Impact Statement. It would rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule in its entirety — 44.7 million acres across 36 states and Puerto Rico, with Idaho and Colorado excluded under their own state rules.

NOW

Comment Window Open

Docket FS-2025-0001 is live

The public comment period is open on Regulations.gov. This is the last formal chance to weigh in before the rule can be finalized.

Sep 21, 2026

Comment period closes

11:59pm ET. This is the last general public comment period — no further nationwide comment opportunity is required before a final rule. Alaska subsistence hearings under ANILCA §810 and Tribal consultation continue separately.

WHAT'S ACTUALLY ON THE LINE

This isn't abstract. It's the water you fish.

44.7M

acres of inventoried roadless land opened to new road construction and logging

9.3M

of those acres sit inside the Tongass — the wild heart of Alaska's salmon country

states, plus Puerto Rico, with headwaters, spawning grounds and backcountry drainages directly affected — Idaho and Colorado keep their own state rules

days — the entire window the public has had to respond to a 25-year-old protection

"I've spent 25 years filming water that only stays wild because nobody could build a road to it. Roadless isn't red tape — it's the reason there's still somewhere left to cast a line without a logging truck in the frame." — RA Beattie, Off the Grid Studios

MAKE IT COUNT

Your comment goes in the federal record

Draft language — edit it, make it yours, or copy it as-is:

I oppose the rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule (Docket FS-2025-0001). These 44.7 million acres protect the headwaters, spawning habitat, and backcountry access that outdoor recreation and fishing economies depend on. Once roads go in, the character of this land changes permanently — there is no version of "responsible development" that gives it back. I urge the Forest Service to withdraw this proposal and keep the Roadless Rule intact.

Put it in your own words if you can. Agencies group identical form comments and count them as one. A few specific sentences about the water you fish, the drainage you hunt, or the business you run carries far more weight in the record than a copied block.

File your comment before Sept 21

Submitted directly to the federal docket. Takes under five minutes.

Submit your comment →

Docket FS-2025-0001 · Regulations.gov · Closes Sept 21, 2026, 11:59pm ET

Comments from the 2025 round do not carry over. That window drew 625,957 comments and the Department proceeded anyway. If you commented last year, you have to do it again for this docket to be counted. No extension to the Sept 21 deadline has been granted as of publication.

SOURCES

NO ROADS.
NO GOING BACK.

Twenty-five years, undone in thirty days

The Roadless Rule takes effect

USDA signals the rescission

The rule is formally proposed

Docket FS-2025-0001 is live

Comment period closes

This isn't abstract. It's the water you fish.

Your comment goes in the federal record

File your comment before Sept 21

Verify it yourself