The U.S. Department of Agriculture has moved to rescind the Roadless Rule. Passed in 2001, the rule limits road construction and timber harvest within national forests.
The Roadless Rule currently protects 44 million acres of the 193-million-acre National Forest System from large-scale commercial logging operations and the construction of roads in wilderness areas.
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said that getting rid of the rule will help local managers make their own decisions about how to manage areas. “It’s time to turn the page on the failed roadless rule and return our forests to health and productivity,” Rollins said in an agency press release.
The USDA is accepting comments until Sept. 21, 2026, here.
