Twenty-five years, undone in forty-five days
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.
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.
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.
Deadline pushed to October 6
Facing pressure from 164 members of Congress and a coalition of conservation groups — who asked for 120 more days — the Forest Service extended the original Sept 21 deadline by 15 days. Alaska subsistence hearings under ANILCA §810 (Ketchikan, statewide virtual, Anchorage) run Sept 29–Oct 1 and feed into the record before comments close.
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.
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. A final decision is expected by late 2026.
This isn't abstract. It's the water you fish.
"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
File your comment before Oct 6
Submitted directly to the federal docket. Takes under five minutes.
Submit your comment →Verify it yourself
- Regulations.gov — Docket FS-2025-0001, public comments
- U.S. Forest Service — Roadless Area Conservation program page
- USDA press release, Aug 18, 2026 — proposed rule filed
- SBA Office of Advocacy, Sept 17, 2026 — comment deadline extended to Oct 6
- Earthjustice — coalition's request for a 120-day extension
- Federal Register — Notice of Intent, Aug 29, 2025
- GearJunkie — coverage of the Aug 18, 2026 filing
- Outdoor News — hunting and fishing industry reaction
- NRDC — conservation analysis of the repeal's scope
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.