Quick Tips: The Roadless Rule

Do you like forests? Drinking water? Being serenaded by birdsongs from the canopies of old-growth trees? Do you want to save wilderness in the United States from getting logged and destroyed to line the pockets of billionaires? Let’s jump right into this short-n-simple blog on how to save the roadless rule and the western United States as we know it :-) 

If you don’t need background and want to take action without scrolling through this blog, click this link to leave your public comment to Secretary Rollins! If you want a quick summary of what I'm talking about, read on!

Look at how beautiful life is! Let's let it keep growing

What is the Roadless Rule?

The Roadless Rule is formally known as the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (66 FR 3244, 36 CFR Subpart B (2001)). It’s a rule that prohibits “road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvest on nearly 59 million acres of the National Forest System” (USDA). 

If you click the link above, you will be directed to Secretary Rollins' argument that the Roadless Rule harms forests. Note how there is no scientific backing or research in the article that supports her statements, and her claim about fire hazards comes from nowhere in particular.

The Roadless Rule pertains to the outlined areas in this map, linked here. Below is a screenshot. It comes from the Forest Service’s map titled “Inventoried Roadless Areas designated by the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, 2008 Idaho Roadless Rule, and 2012 Colorado Roadless Rule."

The ten states affected are the following: Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. The only reason Idaho and Colorado are not stated in the "Current Status of Inventoried Roadless Areas” is because they have their own state-sanctioned roadless rules (you go, Glen Coco). 

As I live in Washington and am an avid backpacker, hiker, and rafter, here are some numbers I care about most: The roadless rule currently protects 782 miles of whitewater paddling runs, 26,647 miles of trail, and 19,596 miles of mountain biking in Washington State alone. For those interested in the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the roadless rule currently protects 231 miles of the PCT.

Here are up close screenshots of currently protected areas. They may look small on your screen. Let me assure you, they are not.

Northern Washington

Mount Rainier Area

Central Oregon

Mt. Hood and The Columbia River Gorge

Sierra Nevadas, California

Canadian Border Region

Who is Brooke Rollins (and her husband)?

Brooke Rollins is the current Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

I looked up her husband’s LinkedIn out of curiosity. Mark Rollins (Brooke's husband) is the President of HKN Energy, a privately held oil and gas company based in Iraq. What fascinating dinner conversations these two must have. Hmm… food for thought. I'll let you, dear reader, do your own research. Moving on…

What’s Going on With the Roadless Rule? 

Brooke Rollins plans on rescinding the Roadless Rule.

She published a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement on August 29, 2025. Please feel free to read the official notice here. In her statement, she says that, “this deregulatory action is proposed pursuant to Executive Order 14192, Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation, to alleviate unnecessary regulatory burdens.” This is directly related to the Big Beautiful Bill, which we know mandates 2 million acres of land sales, but can include up to 250 million acres eligible for sale. That’s right, people! It’s all connected.

The land of the free is for sale to the highest bidder, under obligation, and rescinding the Roadless Rule just makes it easier. 

This is in the Columba River Gorge. The Roadless Rule currently protects parts of the Gorge and Mt. Hood.

Does Science Back Up The Deregulation of the Roadless Rule?

You guessed it! NO! Literally not at all!!!!! According to the Pacific Biodiversity Institute, “We discovered that less than 3% of all wildfires start in wilderness or backcountry areas more than 2 kilometers (about 1.24 miles) from a road.” That means that where there are roads, there are fires! WHY? Because there are people!!!!!!! They also found that “96% [of human-caused wildfires] were within a 1/2 mile of a road.” Imagine that!!!!! The Wilderness Society found that “wildfire-ignition density was lowest in designated wilderness areas.” For more information from a reputable source, read this NPR article about the behind-the-scenes of Trump’s plans. 

Including any facade about caring for wildfires is an insult to the American people. This is about profit. Brooke says it herself:

"It is imperative for the United States to take immediate action to facilitate domestic production of these natural resources to the maximum possible extent."

Translation: plunder our forests.

Does the Administration Care About Wilderness Areas Like They State In the Action Statement?

You guessed it again! No! All the claims of access to wilderness so firefighters can put out fires are, excuse my French, bullshit. If the Administration cared, Trump and DOGE would not have fired 3,400 US Forest Service employees and 1,000 Park Service employees. That way, employees could manage the lands to prevent wildfires.

On a personal note, those fired employees could have helped maintain the current roads, which, if you have ever been down forest roads, can be less like driving and more like getting thrown in a bounce house at a middle schooler’s birthday party. Hey, Madam Brooke! Maybe focus on the roads we already have (ope, there's the Michigander in me!)

Rescinding the Roadless Rule is not about environmental protection. That is long gone. It is about accessing untouched areas for profit. 

The proposal claims, "Insect and disease and wildfire activity, especially within the WUI, affects important resources, neighboring infrastructure, and communities.” The proposal also claims, “All land management plans conform to existing laws and regulations and are administratively changed as needed to conform to new statutory and regulatory requirements (36 CFR 219.1(f) and 219.13(c)).”

What Rollins is saying is that Trump can do whatever the f*ck he wants for the benefit of profiting off of protected areas. That is what this means. Rollins includes no research study to back up her claims. She is simply including misinformation to pillage and assault protected land.

What Can I Do to Save the Roadless Rule? 

1. Speak Up During the Public Comment Period Until September 19, 2025

First rule of business: comment on the public notice! Make your voice heard! This has nothing to do with Congress (they can’t help us out here). This is downright talking to the USGA Secretary. Leave your comments HERE. Click the link! You have until September 19, 2025, to comment. 

When commenting:

• Include personal anecdotes

• Use research

• Write in your voice, no need to sound too professional if that isn’t you

• Tell the secretary why this matters to you

• Ask questions!

Do it in the waiting room, do it while the popcorn is popping, do it all day, every day. I don't know if they read them. Hopefully! But regardless, the more poeple who comment, the more uproar it will be!

Here's how:

1. Go to the government regulations page to find the notice: click this link!! It should look like this.

   

   
   

2. Click Comment

   

3. Comment! The page looks like this

   

2. Use Your Voice

Tell everyone you know what is happening. Send them the link via email and text. Post on your social media. Bring it up in conversation. Tell others that our public lands are at stake! 

3. Go Outside

Backpack in California. Hike into a lake in Oregon. Enjoy these places we continue to fight for. Protect the places we continue to fight for. Be an angler, hunter, hiker, or outdoors enthusiast, whatever calls to you. And do everything you can to make sure that watersheds are protected, that ecosystems thrive, and that old-growth trees that existed long before our constitution don’t get pulped into particleboard and end up in a WalMart. Go get ‘em! 

Thanks for taking the time to read! Share what you said by commenting below! Feel free to share this article with your friends if you're unsure about how to approach the topic. They'll think they're getting a fun travel site! Not today! Today, we ride!

XO,

Tiff

Enjoying the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, a place the Roadless Rule also protects