Administration Seeks Comments on Repealing Roadless Area Protections
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has officially proposed to repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which has protected popular backcountry recreation destinations spanning nearly 60 million acres of Forest Service lands across the country since 2001. The result of this action, if successful, would open remote landscapes highly valued for backcountry river and other recreation activities to road building and logging.
Protected Roadless areas are a treasure trove of whitewater boating and biodiversity gems. Runs like the Middle Fork Feather and Dry Meadow Creek in California, South Fork Salmon in Idaho, Cascade Brook in New Hampshire, the Cooper and McCoy Creek in Washington, Seneca Creek and Tea Creek in West Virginia, Upper Chattooga in Georgia, Snowbird Creek and Upper Wilson Creek in North Carolina, and Laurel Fork of the Potomac in Virginia all flow through Forest Service Roadless Areas. You can explore a map of roadless areas here.
There are already an estimated 380,000 miles of Forest Service roads that provide access to vast amounts of National Forest lands. Only 20% of these roads are being adequately maintained and many of the rest are in a state of disrepair and causing damaging sedimentation into rivers and streams. The agency’s current road maintenance backlog would cost approximately $10 billion to address. We should not be building new Forest Service roads into roadless areas when we can’t maintain the existing road network.
The Administration claims their proposed Roadless Rule repeal would return decision-making regarding the management of roadless areas to local Forest Service staff. This is false. The management of National Forests is driven by the Washington Office of the Forest Service and is heavily politicized. Repealing the Roadless Rule would allow the Washington Office to require local Forest Service units to build roads into wild places and log them.
The Public Notice explicitly states that a purpose of this rulemaking is to implement a national policy of immediate expansion of timber production. The Administration also claims that the repeal is needed to address fire, disease, and insects, but the Roadless Rule already contains exceptions allowing for treatments for those issues. It is clear that the aim of the proposed repeal is to increase logging, energy production and mineral extraction, stated priorities for the current administration, and not to address forest fires or any other ecological concerns, including local management decision making. Coupled with changes to NEPA, the likely result of this repeal would be logging huge swaths of wild roadless areas without meaningful public oversight.
The Administration is asking for comment on two alternatives: The No Action Alternative that would leave the Roadless Rule in place, and the Full Repeal of the Roadless Rule (minus Colorado and Idaho which have their own more permissive rules).
We encourage boaters to submit a personal letter to the Administration clearly supporting the No Action Alternative. Arguments about protecting recreational experiences and water quality are encouraged. The deadline to comment is Sept. 19, 2025.
Take Action: Make Your Voice Heard Using Our Easy-Action Form Here
The Roadless Rule was approved in January 2001 following years of scientific study, more than 600 public hearings across the country, and 1.6 million official public comments. The lands protected under the Roadless Rule are critical to wildlife, backcountry recreation, drinking water, and downstream water quality. American Whitewater has consistently supported the protection of these backcountry landscapes. The Roadless Rule does not affect access through existing Forest Service roads but prevents the construction of new roads and resource extraction in some spectacular wild landscapes. The Roadless Rule recognized that the Forest Service already has a massive road system that they are unable to maintain and therefore should not be building new roads in sensitive areas.
Our recent success in removing public land sales from the One Big Beautiful Bill illustrates how citizen action can make a difference. This is another attempt to transfer our public lands to extractive industries. Take action now to support the Roadless Area Conservation Act, and stay tuned for the next steps!