August 19, 2026 4:00 a.m.
The American Forest Resource Council is welcoming the U.S. Forest Service’s proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, saying the action would give land managers greater flexibility to address wildfire risk and declining forest health on millions of acres of National Forest System lands.
An AFRC release said the Forest Service announced Tuesday it has filed its proposed rule and draft Environmental Impact Statement to rescind the Roadless Rule in its entirety. The 25-year-old rule restricts road construction, reconstruction and timber harvest across more than 44 million acres of the National Forest System. More than 95 percent of the affected Inventoried Roadless Areas are located in 10 Western states.
AFRC President Travis Joseph said, “The Forest Service is right to take a hard look at a policy for forest conditions that looked very different 25 years ago”. Joseph said, “Our national forests are experiencing severe wildfire, drought, insects and disease on a scale that few anticipated when the Roadless Rule was adopted. Forest professionals need the flexibility to respond to those conditions before we lose more forests, watersheds and wildlife habitat to catastrophic wildfire”. Joseph said, “We should continue to adapt and learn from failed policies to meet the moment, not continue to cling to positions and ideas that don’t serve the public’s interest”.
The release said according to the Forest Service, more than 40 percent of Inventoried Roadless Areas have high or very high hazard potential, yet only 5 percent have received hazardous fuels reduction treatments since 2014. The agency also reports that 11.3 million acres of roadless lands are already located near existing roads.
Joseph said, “Calling an area roadless does not protect it from wildfire, insects or disease”. Joseph said, “The question should be whether these forests are healthy and whether Forest Service professionals have the tools they need to keep them healthy and resilient now and into the future. Science based, proactive forest management is conservation, responsible stewardship and protection of our public lands”.
The Forest Service is accepting public comments on the proposed rule and draft Environmental Impact Statement through September 21st.