Tell the Forest Service to Keep Bulldozers and Chainsaws Out of Protected Public Forests: Defend the Roadless Rule
The Trump administration is attacking public forests… Still.
The anti-conservation federal administration is ramming through its repeal of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, commonly called the Roadless Rule, despite overwhelming public opposition. The Roadless Rule, adopted in 2001, preserves many of the last unroaded swaths of public lands as a home for wildlife, havens for quiet recreation, drinking water sources, and a lasting legacy for current and future generations. A bedrock of conservation policy, it protects nearly two million acres of Oregon’s public forests and nearly 45 million acres nationwide from logging, road building, and destructive extractive practices. Amidst the Trump administration’s ongoing efforts to undermine foundational environmental laws and policies, as well as explicit directions to ramp up commercial logging in national forests and gut the Forest Service workforce, we have to take every opportunity to push back.
Rolling back the Roadless Rule puts some of Oregon’s most iconic places at risk: Larch Mountain in the Columbia River Gorge, Tumalo Mountain outside of Bend, Lookout Mountain in the heart of Oregon, the forests around Lost Lake on Mount Hood, Hardesty Mountain east of Eugene, sections of the Pacific Crest Trail near Waldo Lake, the Oregon Dunes, and many more special places throughout the Cascadia bioregion and beyond. Check out this map of roadless areas created by the Outdoor Alliance and this map of at-risk species in roadless areas from Defenders of Wildlife to see what’s at stake. When roads are carved into these areas, they fragment wildlife habitat, spread invasive species, increase wildfire risk, hinder recreation opportunities, introduce noise, and literally pave the way for industrial logging and mining activities to degrade these last wild public forests. Please join us in speaking out against Trump’s latest brazen attack on public lands.
Despite all that’s at stake, the Trump administration is rushing the process and only accepting public comments through September 21st at 9 p.m. PST (midnight EST). Here’s what to do:
- First, sign our petition below urging the Forest Service to maintain Roadless Rule forest protections now. The petition does not allow edits, however, if you would like to do more, head to step number two. You have until September 21st at 5 p.m. PST to sign. We’ll submit the petition to the agency, and your name will be included in the public record.
- Next, submit a unique comment directly to the USDA Forest Service. You can use the language in this sample comment or our petition to get started, but be sure to add your own comments on why roadless area protections matter to you. Do you hike, camp, or forage in roadless national forests? Are you concerned that more roads will lead to more fires? Do you value intact forests for filtering your drinking water and providing habitat for fish and wildlife? The more you personalize your comment, the better. The agency’s comment portal will close at 9 p.m. PST on September 21st.
After you’ve signed our petition and submitted your own comment, spread the word and urge your family and friends to do the same. Thank you for standing together against the Trump administration’s attacks on cherished public lands.
