I am writing to urge you to keep the Roadless Area Conservation Rule in place. For 25 years, the Rule has stood between 45 million acres of forest and the development that would change it forever.
Rescission of the Rule would be another blow to imperiled species and ecosystems which are losing protections almost daily. National forests are critical to our nation’s ecological health, and roadless areas serve as migratory game corridors for numerous species. These lands are growing increasingly rare as wild areas across the country are developed.
Not only that — rescinding the Rule would threaten access to clean water for millions of Americans. US National Forests are one of the largest sources of municipal water supply in the nation, serving over 60 million people in 3,400 communities in 33 states.
Once roads cut through these forests, the fragmentation that follows can’t be undone, and there’s no putting these landscapes back the way they were.
Don’t let these forests lose their protection on your watch. I urge you to stand up for our national forests and oppose the rescission of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule — for wildlife, clean water, and so much more.
Copy our comment above or write your own, then click the button to submit.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Read on to learn why your comment matters.
For 25 years, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has protected national forests from commercial logging and road construction The Rule protects about a quarter of our 193 million acres of national forest.
Now, the federal government wants to take even that protection away.
If that happens, 45 million acres of protected forest — land that has stayed undisturbed because of this Rule — will be vulnerable to logging, drilling, mining, and other destructive industries. Once roads cut through these forests, the fragmentation that follows can’t be undone.
Combined with rollbacks of the Endangered Species Act and other environmental protections, rescinding the Rule would put already-vulnerable wildlife at even greater risk.
Rescinding the Rule also undermines Forest Service employee expertise and the long-standing scientific research that the Rule was built on. Weakening these protections dismisses the years of fieldwork, scientific analysis, and professional judgment of public employees who work in our forests every day.
Now is your chance to stand up for your national forests. The government is accepting public comments here until September 21, 2026, so copy and paste our comments at left or write your own to defend the Roadless Rule. Sharing why roadless forests matter to you goes a long way.
Thank you for using your voice to protect your public lands!