The current administration is attempting to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, putting millions of acres of national forest land and countless trails and trail races at risk.

If you’ve ever been on a run in a rugged backcountry area in a national forest, there’s a chance you were enjoying a roadless area. An enormous amount of land managed by the U.S. Forest Service is considered part of an “inventoried roadless area,” a distinction that dates back to the 1970s when the agency first started mapping areas that lacked permanent roads. Many roadless areas went on to become congressionally designated wilderness, but around 58 million acres don’t (and may never) have such a designation. Nearly 45 million acres of these roadless areas have been protected by the Roadless Area Conservation Rule—an agency regulation that prohibits permanent roadbuilding, industrial logging, and other types of development—for over 25 years.

But these protections are under serious threat.

The Trump administration formally started a process to rescind the Roadless Rule in 2025. The regulation was not created through an act of Congress but rather by the U.S. Forest Service itself after undergoing a lengthy and robust rulemaking process that received widespread public support. Unfortunately, extractive industries are leading the charge to peel away public land protections across the country, and the Roadless Rule is one of many regulations that have been targeted. 

What’s important to understand about roadless areas is that they are often recreation destinations for runners, hikers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, and off-highway vehicle enthusiasts. In fact, some of the most beloved trails like the Pacific Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail intersect vast stretches of roadless areas. And some of the biggest trail races in the country are partially within roadless areas. Because of group size limits and permitting restrictions in designated wilderness areas, many races on national forest land that take place in wild backcountry locations are in inventoried roadless areas.

Without the Roadless Rule, these unique running environments may be threatened by industrial logging, drilling, and mining. See our interactive map below to explore some of the trail races we’ve found are in roadless areas. Notably, roadless areas in Idaho and Colorado are exempt from this rollback effort due to some complicated legal and administrative history that resulted in their own state-specific roadless area protections. But it’s still vital for folks in both states to speak out in support of the nationwide Roadless Rule. This is especially true for anyone who travels to other states to run competitively or for fun on trails in roadless areas. There’s also always a chance that the regulations in Idaho and Colorado may be targeted in the future. 

Over 600,000 people around the country submitted comments supporting the Roadless Rule during a short, 21-day comment period in September 2025. Runners for Public Lands submitted a letter detailing why roadless areas are important to runners. We also submitted a letter signed by 92 race directors who organize nearly 550 running events across 34 states. 

So, what happens next? The administration started a final public comment period that ends on September 21, 2026. You can easily submit a comment here. It’s crucial for runners to speak up in defense of the Roadless Rule.

Have more questions about the Roadless Rule and the proposal to rescind it? You can learn more on our FAQs page for this issue.