The Roadless Rule

The Roadless Rule applies to nearly 45 million acres of land in the National Forest System (which includes national grasslands) across 36 states. These areas are primarily forested but can include many other types of ecosystems as well. The Roadless Rule specifically applies to “Inventoried Roadless Areas,” which were mapped in the 1970s. These areas are not the same as congressionally designated wilderness areas, which are subject to an entirely separate law called the Wilderness Act.

Many or perhaps most inventoried roadless areas contain multi-use trails, so “roadless” does not usually mean “trail-less.” The Roadless Rule prevents most new road construction and road reconstruction, which is typically necessary for mining, drilling, and industrial logging operations. While it does not prevent all logging, it does generally prohibit clearcutting and other intensive types of logging that involve cutting and removing large trees. When extraction projects are proposed in national forests, the environmental review process involves taking a hard look at how proposed activities will affect roadless areas and “roadless character.”

The current administration is proposing to fully rescind the national Roadless Rule. Idaho and Colorado have their own state-specific versions of the Roadless Rule for National Forest System lands within those states, so they are excluded from the current proposal. The administration may also choose to modify the national rule rather than fully rescind it.

The administration claims that the Roadless Rule reduces economic output of national forests and inhibits wildfire mitigation. The proposal came soon after Executive Order 14192 “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation,” Executive Order 14225 “Immediate Expansion of American Timber Production,” as well as tariffs on imported lumber. However, most timber harvested in the United States comes from private forest lands, not national forests or other federal lands. And the Roadless Rule already allows exceptions for wildfire mitigation projects (see more below).

Dozens of iconic trail races take place in inventoried roadless areas, including Western States, Waldo 100K, Wasatch 100, Jigger Johnson, and more. Because of restrictions on commercial events and group sizes in congressionally designated wilderness areas, roadless areas offer some of the most undeveloped and backcountry locales where races can occur in national forests. Without the Roadless Rule, these important areas could see more extractive activities like logging, drilling, and mining, which could not only cause environmental damage but also diminish the backcountry running experience.

No—in fact, the Roadless Rule explicitly allows for wildfire mitigation projects. For example, nothing in the Roadless Rule prevents or prohibits the use of prescribed fire. The rule also allows for “generally small diameter timber” to be cut and removed, primarily for wildfire mitigation. Large-scale logging and new roads are not the same thing as targeted community wildfire mitigation. What the Roadless Rule does prevent is large tree removal and clearcutting, both of which can actually exacerbate wildfires. The rule also prevents permanent road-building, which helps reduce unplanned human-caused ignitions as most ignitions are within close proximity to roads.

In the early years of the Roadless Rule, the U.S. Forest Service established a procedure for states to establish their own versions of the Roadless Rule. Only Idaho and Colorado went through this process, each crafting regulations that only apply to their state. These rules have more exceptions for extractive activities and road-building than the national Roadless Rule, which may be why the current administration is not including them in the proposed rescission.

The U.S. Forest Service is currently undertaking a “rulemaking” process to rescind (or modify) the Roadless Rule. This process involves environmental review through publication of an environmental impact statement (EIS). The agency already accepted comments in 2025 when the proposal was first announced. A second and final public comment period will begin when the agency releases its draft EIS. This document will detail their proposal as well as any alternatives the agency analyzed. Then the agency will eventually release a final EIS and a draft decision document (in this case called a “record of decision”), at which point a technical objection process will take place. Then a final record of decision will be released and the rule changes will go into effect. The upcoming draft EIS comment period will be the final opportunity for the public to weigh in before the decision-making process, so it’s crucial for runners to submit a comment during this period.