As a biologist, I work in these forests. It is critical to keep intact forests not only for ecosystem health for wildlife but for ourselves. Dividing forests up and making them more accessible by adding roads introduces invasive species, fire risk, and fragments healthy habitat. It is worth more intact than it could every be divided and drained of resources. For more info check out these papers:
CRIST, M.R., WILMER, B. and APLET, G.H. (2005), Assessing the value of roadless areas in a conservation reserve strategy: biodiversity and landscape connectivity in the northern Rockies. Journal of Applied Ecology, 42: 181-191. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2664.2005.00996.x
Kilbride, J. B., Johnston, J. D., Kennedy, R. E., Meigs, G. W., and Francis, E. M. (2026). Roadless status under the Roadless Area Conservation Rule is not associated with increased wildfire in the US National Forest System. Conservation Science and Practice, 8(10), e70411. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.70411
The Forest Service should keep the Roadless Rule intact exactly as it is. Do not weaken or repeal this critical policy.
National forests are the heart of our public lands. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects some of the wildest forests we have left, forests that protect critical wildlife habitat and drinking water for millions. Revoking the Roadless Rule puts landscapes, wildlife, and communities at risk.
Not only is the Roadless Rule good policy, it's also wildly popular across the country, with over 600,000 people submitting comments to the US Forest Service last year in support of keeping the rule in place. And more than 20 years ago, the American people overwhelmingly called for our national forests to be protected for future generations. Revoking the Roadless Rule would destroy the natural inheritance we leave for our children.