Trump aims to strip protections from pristine national forests.

Protect wild roadless lands; send your comments today!

Last week, the Trump administration announced it will rescind the Roadless Areas Conservation Rule, initiating a brief comment period. The Roadless Rule prohibits road construction and limits tree cutting across 45 million acres of national forest. There are more than two million acres of inventoried roadless areas in Washington’s mountain ranges including the Cascades, Kettles, Selkirks, Olympics and Blues.  

Roadless areas are large and beautiful wild areas, some of the last areas on public lands free from industrial development. They provide crucial ecological functions, such as landscape habitat connectivity for wide-ranging species, like wolverine and Canada lynx, and clean, cold water for downstream communities. Much of the wildlife we strive to protect call these areas home and rely on habitat free from human development. Roadless areas also support cultural and subsistence practices and provide amazing backcountry recreation experiences.

The proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule makes no sense ecologically or economically. There are more roads on national forests than can be affordably maintained. The Forest Service has a massive 380,000-mile road system and a growing $10.8 billion dollar maintenance backlog that has persisted for decades. The Forest Service receives funding to maintain only a fraction of their road system.  

Roads are expensive to build and maintain, fragment and degrade wildlife habitat, serve as vectors for human fire ignitions, and annually dump many tons of sediment onto fish habitat and breeding sites. In Washington, about 85% of fires are caused by people each year. 

Speak up today for our roadless areas! 

Comments are only being accepted through the federal rulemaking portal until September 19, but we’ve made it easy to take action. 

• Go to the Official Comment Portal

• Use the sample letter provided below or personalize your comment with why you care about Roadless public lands

• Fill in the required information and submit 

Add your voice today- our wildlife and wild places depend on it 

 Example letter for Comment Portal: 

I’m writing to convey my opposition to the proposal to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule (FS-2025-0001). The nation’s Roadless Rule has worked effectively for nearly 25 years to keep backcountry habitat, headwaters, and recreation areas protected from industrial development.  

Roadless areas are large and beautiful wild areas that provide crucial ecological functions, such as landscape habitat connectivity for wide-ranging species and cold, clean water for downstream communities. Roadless areas also support cultural and subsistence practices, providing amazing backcountry recreation experiences. There are over 2 million acres of roadless lands in Washington’s Cascades, Kettles, Selkirks, Olympics and Blue Mountains. 

Repealing the Roadless Rule would mean more roads, fragmented fish and wildlife habitat, more stress on wildlife, and degraded water quality, as well as exceptionally more fire danger due to increased human presence. We already have a massive Forest Service road system with too many decaying roads that are too expensive to maintain. 

I urge you to retain the Roadless Rule for the wildlife, waters, and enjoyment they provide.  

Sincerely,   

[First and Last Name]  

[City, State, Zip Code]