Forest Service Makes Another Step Toward Repealing Roadless Rule: Environment Alaska Reacts (Updating)
As expected, President Donald Trump’s administration continues to make steps toward repealing the Roadless Rule, which would open up U.S. Forest Service land such as Southeast Alaska’s pristine and massive Tongass National Forest to logging, mining and other development. The Tongass, specifically has been at the center of the issue from each side.
First up, here’s today’s U.S. Forest Service press release detailing its plans to lift protections for the public land:
Secretary Rollins Opens Next Step in the Roadless Rule Rescission
WASHINGTON, August 27, 2025 – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins today announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has taken the next step in the rulemaking process for rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule by opening a public comment period.
“We are one step closer to common sense management of our national forest lands. Today marks a critical step forward in President Trump’s commitment to restoring local decision-making to federal land managers to empower them to do what’s necessary to protect America’s forests and communities from devastating destruction from fires,” said Secretary Rollins. “This administration is dedicated to removing burdensome, outdated, one-size-fits-all regulations that not only put people and livelihoods at risk but also stifle economic growth in rural America. It is vital that we properly manage our federal lands to create healthy, resilient, and productive forests for generations to come. We look forward to hearing directly from the people and communities we serve as we work together to implement productive and commonsense policy for forest land management.”
The USDA Forest Service is publishing a notice seeking public comment on its intention to develop an environmental impact statement for the proposed rescission of the rule. The notice details the reasons for rescinding the rule, the potential effects on people and resources, and how national forests and grasslands are managed. The USDA Forest Service will publish the notice in the Federal Register on Friday, August 29, 2025.
“For nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has frustrated land managers and served as a barrier to action – prohibiting road construction, which has limited wildfire suppression and active forest management,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz. “The forests we know today are not the same as the forests of 2001. They are dangerously overstocked and increasingly threatened by drought, mortality, insect-borne disease, and wildfire. It’s time to return land management decisions where they belong – with local Forest Service experts who best understand their forests and communities. We encourage participation in the upcoming public process. Your input will help to build a stronger, safer future for our forests and the communities that depend on these forests for jobs, recreation, and clean water.”
While the rescission would apply to roadless areas in Alaska, state-specific rules for Colorado and Idaho, which were part of the Administrative Procedure Act petitions, would not be affected by the proposal. In total, the 2025 rescission would apply to nearly 45 million acres of the nearly 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest System.
The proposal aligns with President Trump’s Executive Order 14192, Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation to get rid of overcomplicated, burdensome barriers that hamper American business and innovation. It also supports Executive Order 14153, Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential which directs the Forest Service to exempt the Tongass National Forest from the 2001 Roadless Rule.
The public is invited to comment on the potential effects of the proposal to guide the development of the environmental impact statement no later than Sept. 19, 2025. Public comments will be considered during the development of the draft environmental impact statement. Additional opportunities to comment will occur as the rulemaking process continues.
Here’s Alaska Environment with some reaction:
STATEMENT: Forest Service begins to unravel protections for Alaska backcountry forests
“Notice of Intent” is first step in opening up 14.7 million acres of protected Alaska national forests to development
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The U.S. Forest Service has formally begun to rescind the 2001 “Roadless Rule” which protects 58.5 million acres of wild areas in national forests, including 14.7 million acres in Alaska. USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins initially announced plans to roll back these forest protections on June 23 at the Western Governors’ Association Meeting. To begin the official process, the agency will post a “Notice of Intent” to the Federal Register on Friday, at which point a 21-day public comment period will commence.
Enacted by President Bill Clinton in 2001, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule was the result of years of work and public input. The public comment period set a record with 1.6 million public comments submitted, and tens of thousands of people participated in hundreds of public meetings. The rule protects roadless areas from new road construction and prohibits the commercial logging of roadless areas, while allowing for fire mitigation activities.
Alaska has roadless areas in both the Chugach National Forest and the Tongass National Forest. The Chugach National Forest roadless area is home to popular hiking areas such as Resurrection and Johnson Pass trails and hunting in game management units six and seven. The Tongass National Forest roadless area is home to salmon headwaters, bear hunting, and very old trees.
In response, Alaska Environment Research & Policy Center State Director Dyani Chapman issued the following statement:
”Alaska’s roadless areas are essential public lands that the Forest Service should not open up to roads and development. Our national forests still have trees older than the United States, healthy salmon populations and true backcountry. Roadless areas make up beloved hunting grounds, fly fishing areas, and hiking opportunities. It is more important to protect these areas than to get a little more wood or to build one more mine or one more road. The Roadless Rule is a successful conservation tool, and it should stay in place.”
We’ll update this as more reaction comes in. Here’s Earthjustice’s statement:
Earthjustice Responds to Trump Administration Attack on Cherished National Forests
The Roadless Rule has protected millions of acres of U.S. public lands for a generation
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture today began the process to repeal the Roadless Rule, a landmark conservation policy that was enacted in 2001 to protect nearly 45 million acres of pristine public lands nationwide. The Roadless Rule was extremely popular when enacted, with 95% of the 1.6 million people who submitted public comments advocating for its establishment. Public support for keeping forests as intact ecosystems, curtailing harmful roadbuilding, and ending commercial logging in the remaining wild national forestlands remains strong.
The following is a statement from Drew Caputo, Vice President of Litigation for Lands, Wildlife and Oceans at Earthjustice
“The Roadless Rule has protected priceless forests across America for a quarter century. These national forests belong to all Americans, not to the timber industry, which wants them sold to the highest bidder. Earthjustice has successfully defended the Roadless Rule in court for decades. Nothing will stop us from taking up that fight again.”
The public has just three weeks, until September 19, to comment on this first step in the Forest Service’s process to rescind the roadless rule.
Background:
Across the national forest system, roadless lands provide habitat for many imperiled wildlife species. Millions visit these places for recreational activities such as hiking, river rafting, hunting, fishing, camping, mountain biking, and rock climbing. These forests also protect the headwaters of major rivers – making them vital for maintaining clean drinking water for communities across the country.
Although proponents of this rollback have attempted to blame wildfire to justify removing protections, research shows that wildfires are more likely to start near roads – and opening the door to heavy industry will create new fire safety concerns. Taxpayers have already paid billions to subsidize 380,000 miles of forest roads, most of which are inaccessible to the public and now face a chronic maintenance backlog that has ballooned into the billions.
Numerous national organizations, tribes, businesses, wildfire fighters, hunters, fishermen, and other interest groups also joined a coalition statement strongly opposing the Trump Administration’s efforts to eliminate the Roadless Rule nationwide.
Next up: SalmonState:
Boring: Trump wants to talk Roadless Rule, Alaskans have moved on
JUNEAU, ALASKA—Alaskans, organizations, and businesses today reacted with disappointment as the Trump Administration announced it will once again eliminate “Roadless Rule” protections from national forests, including the Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. The 2001 “Roadless Area Conservation Rule” prohibits the construction of new roads into wild areas of the Tongass, which in many cases serve as critical undisturbed habitat for salmon and wildlife, provide high quality hunting and fishing opportunities and drive the booming recreation and tourism industry.
“Uncruise Adventures is all about exploring wild Alaska. These Roadless areas are the kinds of places we need,” said Dan Blanchard, CEO of Uncruise Adventures.
”I cannot overstate the importance of inventoried Roadless areas to Southeast Alaska’s tourism and recreation economy,” said Hunter McIntosh, President of The Boat Company. “The Boat Company is a small cruise vessel eco-tour operator that provides hundreds of visitors each year with scenic views of southeast Alaska’s coastlines, fjords and forests. The Roadless Rule ensures these irreplaceable lands will remain protected and continue to draw visitors from throughout the globe. Remoteness, wildlife and scenery form the main visitor attractions in southeast Alaska.”
“The Tongass is where America comes to see Alaska. More than 2 million people come to see wildness, brown bears, glaciers, wild salmon, and big, beautiful public land,” said Dan Kirkwood, Southeast Alaska Program Manager at SalmonState. “The Forest Service and Southeast Alaska needs to focus on managing tourism so locals can make a living here and we can keep what makes Alaska awesome.”
“Protecting the Roadless Rule protects the experiences we offer—unspoiled forests, abundant wildlife, and a deep and timeless connection to a wild Alaska,” said Christine Smith, co-owner of Northwest Navigation Co.
Background:
The top performing assets in the Tongass National Forest are wild lands and wild salmon runs. Tourism and fisheries together create 26% of the jobs in Southeast Alaska. Those jobs depend on the outstanding scenery and wild salmon runs that come from the Tongass. The Tongass is home to 13,000 miles of salmon streams that are the backbone of our wild salmon fisheries, which provide 25% of the West Coast’s salmon catch. Each year the two National Forests in Alaska provide 390 million servings of wild salmon. That’s a salmon burger for everyone in the country, with leftovers. This diverse portfolio of habitat is protected, in part, by the Roadless Rule.
For the last half-decade, Southeast Alaskans have moved away from the destructive clearcut logging practices of years past to focus on new and more sustainable endeavors. Analysis of public comments on the Roadless Rule from the last comment period, in 2019, the vast majority of public commentssupported Roadless protections. So did the vast majority of in-person Southeast Alaska testimony. Also during the last effort to remove Roadless Rule protections, Southeast Alaska tribes issued a formal petition asking for a Tribal Homelands Rulemaking that has not been addressed. Local communities and tribes are passing resolutions supporting conservation protections. Today’s announcement allows for comments through September 19th, which is shorter than normal.
Today, the Tongass contains 1,700 miles of roads open for use and thousands more miles of abandoned, unmaintained logging roads. Agency experts have identified the need for decades worth of restoration work in order to stop and reverse the damage this crumbling infrastructure is having on fish and wildlife. In 2001, when the Rule was first implemented, the USFS identified a backlog of roughly $8.4 billion in deferred maintenance and reconstruction on the more than 386,000 miles of roads nationwide.
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