Update: There are other bills that would affect the Roadless Rule. You can urge your members of Congress to stand up for roadless area protections at the button below.

Original: Today, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee advanced an amended bill with a small but very consequential provision in it that would nullify the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The bill can now receive a full Senate floor vote, but it is unclear whether or when that will happen. Runners from 10 states called their senators who sit on the committee over the last 24 hours to urge them to vote to protect the Roadless Rule.

What Happened?

The ENR Committee held a Business Meeting to consider several bills, including S.140, the Wildfire Prevention Act of 2025 sponsored by Senator John Barrasso (R-WY). Business Meetings are special hearings open to all committee members to go through what is known as the “markup” process whereby amendments are offered up and voted on for bills being considered. The process also involves voting on whether to advance a bill out of the committee and “report” it to the full Senate.

After S.140 was confirmed to be on the agenda for the meeting, Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), the committee’s chairman, proposed a “first-degree” amendment to the bill that would nullify the national Roadless Rule, excluding Idaho and Colorado which have their own state-specific rules. The Roadless Rule protects nearly 45 million acres of national forest land from permanent road-building and certain types of intensive timber harvesting. Its limitations on road-building inherently protects these areas, known as “inventoried roadless areas,” from other extractive activities such as mining and drilling.

Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ), and Mazie K. Hirono (D-HI) offered up a “second-degree” amendment that would strike Lee’s amendment. Some of the senators spoke about the importance of the Roadless Rule, especially in regard to reducing human-caused fire ignitions that tend to happen closer to roads.

Unfortunately, the pro-Roadless Rule amendment was voted down (9 yeas, 11 nays) along party lines, and Lee’s amendment was passed (11-9). The committee then voted along party lines to report S.140 to the full Senate.

The discussion of the Roadless Rule amendments starts at around 30:15 in the video above.

What Comes Next?

Now, Senator Barrasso’s bill is eligible for a full Senate floor vote—and it has the Roadless Rule nullification language in it. Whether the bill receives a full vote is unclear. Many bills advance out of committees but never get a floor vote due to the complicated Senate voting schedule and for other reasons. Some version of S.140 has been advanced out of the ENR Committee several years in a row but has never become law. Whether that changes this year remains to be seen.

What is clear is that runners’ voices are vital during these public land policy debates. The Roadless Rule protects large areas home to thousands of miles of trails and a significant number of race events, including iconic trail races such as Western States. The current administration is in a rulemaking process to possibly rescind or modify the Roadless Rule outside of Idaho and Colorado. The draft Environmental Impact Statement and final public comment period are expected sometime over the coming months, and it will once again be important for runners to stand up for the Roadless Rule.

Additionally, other bills have been introduced that would impact the Roadless Rule. These include bills that would codify the Roadless Rule and bills that would nullify it. Runners for Public Lands will be providing more information on those bills and ways for runners to connect with their representatives and senators soon.

You can learn more about the Roadless Rule and why it is important to runners here.

Featured image: Paintbrush blooming along a trail in an inventoried roadless area in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (Washington). Photo by Jason Keith