Dear Joshua White, Acting Director of Ecosystem Management Coordination at the USDA Forest Service, and Members of Congress:
The Climate Action Collective (CAC) respectfully writes to oppose the U.S. Forest Service’s proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Roadless Rule). We urge the Forest Service to withdraw this proposal or select Alternative 1, No Action.
The Climate Action Collective was established in Fall 2023 and consists of students from the University of Vermont, Champlain College, and Saint Michael’s College who engage in grassroots political action on local climate and environmental issues. Our goals are to cultivate a close-knit, welcoming, and engaging community; provide opportunities to connect with others professionally outside the classroom; and make a tangible difference in Burlington. Our work is centered on environmental justice and intergenerational justice. As college students, we recognize the importance of ensuring that younger generations have a voice in the decisions that will greatly impact our future.
For a quarter century, the Roadless Rule has provided an essential layer of protection for approximately 58.5 million acres of National Forest System lands, representing about one-third of all lands managed by the USDA Forest Service (Forest Service). The Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRAs) protected by the Roadless Rule represent some of the wildest, healthiest, and most intact landscapes in the United States (https://www.pfpi.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Roadless-Rule-Rescision-Threatens-Preprint-Mildrexler-et-al.-2026.pdf). More than 1.5 million Americans submitted comments in support of the Roadless Rule when it was developed, setting a record for public participation in federal rulemaking that still stands today.
In New England, the Roadless Rule protects 260,000 acres, or approximately one-fifth of the combined White Mountain and Green Mountain National Forests. Iconic landscapes protected by the rule include Franconia Notch, Mount Moosilauke, Mount Chocorua, and the Presidential Range in New Hampshire, as well as White Rocks in Vermont. The famous Long Trail and Appalachian Trail also traverse numerous Inventoried Roadless Areas protected by the rule. Equally important, the Roadless Rule safeguards clean drinking water, helps protect against floods and droughts, and supports the region’s native biodiversity, including imperiled species such as the northern long-eared bat, brook trout, Canada lynx, Bicknell’s thrush, and American marten.
Only 3.3% of New England is protected from timber harvesting and road construction, yet scientists say we must protect at least 10% of the region to support biodiversity, carbon storage, and the well-being of our communities. Rescinding the Roadless Rule would reverse decades of conservation progress and make New England’s conservation goals even more difficult to achieve.
Recognizing the exceptional value of Inventoried Roadless Areas, which account for just 2% of the contiguous United States, as well as the Forest Service’s multibillion-dollar backlog of road maintenance, the agency established the Roadless Rule as “a down payment on the well-being of future generations,” in the words of former Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck, who oversaw the rule’s development.
A recent study found that, in New England, the Roadless Rule helps protect drinking water sources for 8.8% of Vermont residents and 7.3% of New Hampshire residents (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000538). Additionally, 7% of Massachusetts residents receive their water from sources that originate in Inventoried Roadless Areas in the White Mountain National Forest.
Importantly, the Roadless Rule is also one of our most valuable tools for addressing wildfire risk. Most wildfires are started by people, and a recent study found that fires are four times more likely to start near roads (https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-026-00450-2). By limiting road construction and development in roadless areas, the rule helps protect these landscapes from additional human-caused fire risks.
The Roadless Rule also protects culturally significant sites and areas used for subsistence. These spaces are critical to food security for many Indigenous communities and help sustain cultural and spiritual practices, including hunting, fishing, and gathering forest plants for food, medicine, and traditional arts.
For these reasons, we urge the U.S. Forest Service to withdraw its proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule or select Alternative 1, No Action, to preserve these essential protections for future generations.
Finally, we call on our members of Congress to co-sponsor and pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2025 (H.R. 3930 and S. 2042) to codify the Roadless Rule into law.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
The Climate Action Collective