Earthjustice Statement on Reintroduction of the Roadless Area Conservation Act
The bill would permanently codify the U.S. Forest Service’s roadless rule into federal law, protecting over 50 million acres of national forests from logging and other development
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Geoffrey Nolan, gnolan@earthjustice.org
Today, Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Representatives Andrea Salinas (D, OR-06) and Yassamin Ansari (D, AZ-03) reintroduced the Roadless Area Conservation Act. The bill would permanently codify the U.S. Forest Service’s roadless rule into federal law, protecting over 50 million acres of national forests from logging and other development. The Trump administration has already stated that it plans to remove Roadless Rule protections from the Tongass National Forest, and more attacks on the Roadless Rule are expected.
“National forests are bastions of biodiversity, cultural institutions of Indigenous communities, the centerpieces of vibrant outdoor economies, and some of our best natural solutions for tackling climate change,” said Earthjustice Senior Legislative Representative Blaine Miller-McFeeley. “As the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans seek to open more national forest land to costly and reckless logging and weaken forest protections, permanently codifying the Roadless Rule gives us the chance to fight back. We thank the Senate and House sponsors for recognizing that our forests are worth more standing.”
Earthjustice has a long history of defending the Roadless Rule in court, most recently by intervening in a January 2024 challenge to defend the 2023 reinstatement of the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest. That litigation is paused pending action from the Trump administration.
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