Roadless.org — Defend the Roadless Rule

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Over two decades of peer-reviewed research demonstrates that roadless areas are critical for biodiversity, wildfire safety, clean water, and climate resilience. Click any study to surface verbatim quotes you can pin to your comment.

BIODIVERSITY & WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

Multiple studies demonstrate that roadless areas serve as essential refugia for threatened and endangered species, providing habitat connectivity and ecosystem integrity.

Assessing the Extent to Which Roadless Areas Complement Conservation

DeVelice & Martin (2001) — Ecological Applications

Roadless areas provide critical habitat for species conservation beyond existing

protected areas

Importance of Roadless Areas in Biodiversity Conservation (Klamath-Siskiyou)

Strittholt & DellaSala (2001) — Conservation Biology

Even smaller roadless areas contribute significantly to regional ecosystem

connectivity

USDA Forest Service Roadless Areas: Potential Biodiversity Conservation Reserves

Loucks et al. (2003) — Ecology & Society

Three-quarters of roadless areas serve as critical habitat for imperiled species

The Importance of U.S. National Forest Roadless Areas for Vulnerable Wildlife Species

Dietz, Barnett, Belote & Aplet (2021) — Global Ecology and Conservation

Over half of America's vulnerable wildlife species depend on roadless area

habitat

Conservation value of national forest roadless areas

Talty, Mott Lacroix, Aplet & Belote (2020) — Conservation Science and Practice

IRAs supply drinking water to 48 million people, buffer Yellowstone by 29% and

the Bob Marshall by 32%, and are the proven pipeline for new wilderness — 74% of

Forest Service wilderness since 2000 was first an IRA.

Review of Ecological Effects of Roads on Terrestrial and Aquatic Communities

Trombulak & Frissell (2000) — Conservation Biology

Roads harm both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems through seven distinct

mechanisms

Forest Fragmentation of the Conterminous United States: Assessing Forest Intactness through Road Density and Spatial Characteristics

Heilman, Strittholt, Slosser & DellaSala (2002) — BioScience

A national mapping of forest intactness shows the remaining large unfragmented

patches are disproportionately rare

The world's largest wilderness protection network after 50 years: An assessment of ecological system representation in the U.S. National Wilderness Preservation System

Dietz, Belote, Aplet & Aycrigg (2015) — Biological Conservation

Inventoried roadless areas are essential to filling ecological-representation

gaps left by the existing wilderness system

Identifying Corridors among Large Protected Areas in the Contiguous United States

Belote, Dietz, McRae, Theobald, McClure, Irwin et al. (2016) — PLOS ONE

The least-modified corridors between protected areas in the U.S. depend on

inventoried roadless areas

FOREST HEALTH & WILDFIRE SAFETY

Contrary to industry claims, scientific research shows roads actually increase fire risk rather than improving forest health.

Three-decade record of contiguous-U.S. national forest wildfires indicates increased density of ignitions near roads

Aplet, Hartger & Dietz (2026) — Fire Ecology

32 years of data confirm wildfire ignitions are 4x more dense near roads than in

roadless areas

Human-started wildfires expand the fire niche across the United States

Balch et al. (2017) — Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Humans cause 84% of U.S. wildfires and have tripled the length of the fire

season

Does increased forest protection correspond to higher fire severity in frequent-fire forests of the western United States?

Bradley, Hanson & DellaSala (2016) — Ecosphere

Forests with the strongest protections burn at LOWER severity despite higher

fuel loads

Does conserving roadless wildland increase wildfire activity in western US national forests?

Johnston et al. (2021) — Environmental Research Letters

Roadless areas burn larger areas but NOT at higher severity than roaded forests

Long-term Forest Health Implications of Roadlessness

Healey (2020) — Environmental Research Letters

Two decades of data show roadless areas are NOT more fire-prone than roaded

forests

WATER QUALITY & WATERSHED PROTECTION

Roadless areas serve as critical sources of clean water for millions of Americans, protecting watersheds from sediment and pollution.

Roadless Areas and Clean Water

DellaSala (2011) — Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Roads increase water pollution while roadless areas protect clean water sources

Forest Service Roadless Area Conservation – Environmental Impact Statement

USFS (2000/2001) — USDA Forest Service Technical Analysis

Official government analysis confirms roadless areas' critical role in watershed

protection

CLIMATE & CARBON STORAGE

Roadless areas, especially old-growth forests, provide critical climate benefits through massive carbon storage and sequestration.

The Tongass National Forest: A Natural Climate Solution of Global Significance

DellaSala, Gorelik & Walker (2022) — Land

Roadless old-growth forests are essential for meeting climate goals

Southern Alaska's Forest Landscape Integrity, Habitat, and Carbon

Law et al. (2023) — AGU Advances

Alaska's roadless forests store outsized amounts of carbon crucial for climate

stability

Carbon sequestration and biodiversity co-benefits of preserving forests in the western United States

Buotte, Law, Ripple & Berner (2020) — Ecological Applications

Western U.S. forests could store ~20% of global temperate-boreal mitigation

potential, and the highest-value forests overlap with roadless areas

Maximizing the effectiveness of national commitments to protected area expansion for conserving biodiversity and ecosystem carbon under climate change

Dinerstein, Buotte, Law et al. (2021) — Global Change Biology

The 2001 Roadless Rule already protects key climate refugia — its preservation

is a 30x30 priority

Mature and old-growth forests contribute to large-scale conservation targets in the conterminous United States

DellaSala, Mackey, Norman, Campbell, Comer, Kormos, Keith & Rogers (2022) — Frontiers in Forests and Global Change

76% of mature and old-growth forest carbon on federal lands is vulnerable to

logging — elevating IRAs is essential for climate goals

GLOBAL ROADLESS SCIENCE CONTEXT

International research reinforces the critical importance of roadless areas for global conservation and biodiversity.

A Global Map of Roadless Areas and Their Conservation Status

Ibisch et al. (2016) — Science

Protecting roadless areas is one of the most cost-effective conservation

strategies globally

Roadless and Low-Traffic Areas as Conservation Targets in Europe

Selva, Kreft, Kati, Schluck, Jonsson, Mihok, Okarma & Ibisch (2011) — Environmental Management

75% of European low-traffic areas lie outside formal protection — legal

recognition of roadless areas is needed worldwide

Importance of Roadless Areas for the European Conservation Network

Psaralexi, Votsi, Selva, Mazaris & Pantis (2017) — Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

European roadless areas mirror U.S. findings — they complement protected

networks and anchor climate-adaptation connectivity