Submit a Comment to Defend the Roadless Rule

On August 18, the U.S. Forest Service announced a proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, putting nearly 45 million acres of undeveloped national forest lands at risk of increased roadbuilding, logging, and associated development. The agency has now released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and is accepting public comments on whether to eliminate these longstanding protections and leave future management to forest-level plans and project-by-project decisions.

For trail runners, this matters. Roadless areas protect the quiet, wild character, clean water, habitat, and backcountry trail experiences that define so many of the runs, races, and training grounds we care about. They shape iconic running experiences from the Tahoe Rim Trail and Pacific Crest Trail near Carson Pass, to the Continental Divide Trail in the Gila, to high-country routes on Montana’s Custer Gallatin National Forest and Washington’s Olympic National Forest. Once roads are built into these places, that wild character is hard to get back. RPL’s Roadless materials also emphasize that these lands are vital not only for trail running and other recreation, but also for rural gateway communities and the outdoor recreation economy they support.

Runners support the No Action Alternative and keeping the Roadless Rule in place. The current rule provides clear protections for roadless areas nationwide. Rescinding it would remove those protections and leave the future of these landscapes to piecemeal forest-by-forest and project-by-project decisions. These lands matter not only for trail running and other recreation, but for rural communities and local economies tied to public lands.

Instructions

Since it’s the final day of the comment period, we’re encouraging runners to submit their comment directly to the federal government’s comment portal. You can use the following pre-written comment with talking points about how rescinding the Roadless Rule could negatively impact running and trail races in national forests:

I am writing to urge the U.S. Forest Service to retain the 2001 Roadless Rule and select the No Action Alternative in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement and proposed rule.

As a runner, I value roadless areas because they provide the quiet, undeveloped, backcountry experiences that make running in national forests meaningful. These places offer more than scenery. They protect clean water, intact habitat, connected trail experiences, and the sense of wildness that draws people outdoors in the first place.

For runners, roadless areas are training grounds, places of personal renewal, and the setting for many of the events and traditions that define running culture. They also support rural communities that benefit from recreation-based visitation. Opening these landscapes to more road construction and logging would fragment trails, degrade the running experience, and permanently diminish some of the last wild places left in the National Forest System.

I support keeping the Roadless Rule in place as a clear safeguard for these lands. Please reject rescission and preserve the existing Roadless Rule protections.

Thank you for considering my comment.