The Trump administration has taken steps to allow for the construction of new roads by moving to dismantle the “roadless rule,” a regulation that originated towards the end of the Clinton administration.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that the U.S. Forest Service has submitted a proposal aimed at fully rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation rule, which limits road building and certain timber activities in designated National Forest spaces.
The Roadless Rule currently protects over 44 million acres within the National Forest System, which spans a total of 193 million acres, according to a report from the USDA.
The USDA has yet to provide a comment on this matter.
Rollins stated, “For too long, outdated regulations have made tens of millions of acres of forests off-limits to the very treatments that would improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to our communities.” He believes it’s essential to move past what he describes as a failed Roadless Rule and work towards healthier forests.
Currently, about 40 percent of land within inventoried roadless areas is considered to be at high or very high risk for wildfires, with the likelihood being as low as 5 percent in the East and up to 60 percent in California, as noted in the Federal Register.
Tom Schultz, the U.S. Forest Service Commissioner, emphasized the importance of active forest management, stating that it’s a crucial necessity rather than just an option.
In fact, the number of wildfires in 2026 surpassed the total from the previous decade, burning over 7.2 million acres, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
Recently, the Department of Agriculture announced a proposed rule that would fully repeal the 2001 National Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which has restricted road construction and limited the Forest Service’s capabilities in managing forest health for over 25 years.
The plans to roll back this regulation come amid a challenging wildfire season across North America, particularly in Oregon, where dry conditions and lightning have led to significant fires that consumed more than a million acres by late July.
Smoke from these wildfires has affected air quality in various regions of the U.S., with fires in Canada earlier this summer contributing to the problem. Some fires ignite carbon-rich peat soils, creating lingering smoke issues even after surface flames have been extinguished.
The administration aims to focus on forest management as a strategy to mitigate wildfire risks, advocating that measures such as thinning out vegetation and removing hazardous fuels can help decrease fire intensity.
While repealing the rule does not automatically sanction logging or road development, the USDA Forest Service indicates that decisions regarding roadless areas will revert to individual national forests and be guided by existing planning processes.
More than 95% of the country’s roadless areas are concentrated in Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Interestingly, Colorado and Idaho would not be affected by this repeal since their national forests follow different state-specific roadless regulations.
Support for this proposal has come from Republican governors in the West, who argue that the existing rules hinder effective forest management at the state and local levels.
Montana’s Republican Governor Greg Gianforte criticized the federal regulations, saying they limit the state’s ability to properly handle wildfire risks and road needs across significant portions of Forest Service land. Similarly, Utah’s Republican Governor Spencer Cox has remarked that the rule imposes one-size-fits-all federal policies that restrict local managers.
