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Millions Support the Roadless Rule
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April 2026 4 min read

USDA gave Americans 21 days to weigh in on rescinding the Roadless Rule. Roughly 600,000 responded — and a detailed roadless.org analysis found more than 99.8% opposed. February 2026 polling confirms the public is on the same page.

What 600,000 Comments Tell Us

When the U.S. Department of Agriculture opened a 21-day public comment period on rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, the agency gave the public the shortest possible legal window to respond. Americans responded anyway. They responded in numbers that should be impossible for any rulemaking record to ignore.

The numbers

Between August 27 and September 19, 2025, roughly 600,000 individual comments were submitted on the Notice of Intent to repeal the Roadless Rule. A detailed analysis of the comment record conducted by roadless.org found that more than 99.8% of submitters opposed the rescission. The pattern is consistent with the original 2001 record, when the Forest Service held more than 600 public hearings and received 1.6 million comments — at the time the most ever received on any federal rule, and with overwhelming support for the Rule's protections.

Twenty-five years later, the public position has not moved. If anything, it has hardened.

The polling agrees

In February 2026, The Pew Charitable Trusts published a national survey on the Roadless Rule. The headline result:

When asked specifically about the roadless rule, likely voters support the rule by a strong margin of 76% to 13%.

The bipartisan breakdown is the part the headlines undersell. When asked the broader question of whether to conserve national forests or open them to more timber, mining, and development, 77% chose conservation and only 11% chose development. Party splits:

  • 71% of Republicans support conserving national forests over development
  • 80% of Democrats support conserving national forests
  • 80% of independents support conserving national forests

In an era when virtually no policy commands cross-party majorities of this size, the Roadless Rule does. It is one of the few federal regulations on which 7 in 10 Republicans, 8 in 10 Democrats, and 8 in 10 independents agree. The administration is acting against not just majority opinion but durable, bipartisan, supermajority opinion.

Congress is listening

The legislative response is moving with the public. The Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2025 has been introduced in both chambers:

  • S.2042 in the Senate
  • H.R.3930 in the House

Together, the two bills carry more than 100 co-sponsors, with bipartisan participation. The legislation would codify the Roadless Rule into statute, making it impossible to rescind by administrative action. State delegations from Colorado, Washington, Oregon, New Mexico, North Carolina, and Virginia have been particularly active. Seven former Forest Service chiefs have publicly criticized the rescission and urged Congress to act.

Why USDA is moving anyway

The administration's regulatory program is built around an Executive Order 14192 deregulation quota — agencies must repeal ten regulations for every new one. The Roadless Rule is one of the largest, most visible federal land-use regulations on the books. Rescinding it scores heavily against the quota. By December 2025, USDA had logged 73 deregulatory removals and zero new regulations, the highest deregulatory ratio in the cabinet.

That is the institutional incentive. It does not change in response to comments. It does not change in response to polling. It only changes in response to legal action and Congressional pressure.

What the next round of comments must do

USDA's draft Environmental Impact Statement and proposed rule are expected in Spring 2026. A second formal public comment period will follow. A final decision is expected in late 2026, after which litigation is widely expected.

The comments that matter most in the second round are not the form letters. They are the substantive ones — the ones that engage the agency's stated rationale, cite the peer-reviewed science, name the omissions in the rulemaking record, and put the >99.8% opposition figure on the record explicitly. The first round established the public's position. The second round must establish the legal record.

If you commented in 2025, comment again in 2026. If you didn't, this is the round that matters.

Sources

  • The Pew Charitable Trusts (February 18, 2026). An Update on the 'Roadless Rule': USDA Intends to Repeal Widely Supported National Forest Policy. pew.org
  • roadless.org comment-record analysis (2025 USDA Roadless Rule rescission docket).
  • Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2025, S.2042 (Senate) and H.R.3930 (House). congress.gov
  • Office of Management and Budget, Unified Regulatory Agenda, December 2025.
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