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.

Tell the Forest Service to keep the Roadless Rule in place and select the No Action Alternative. Use the editable message below, then add your own personal details about where you run, how roadless national forests matter to you, and what would be lost if these places were opened to more roadbuilding and industrial development. We will then ensure that your comment is delivered into the official system and counted.