On Monday, June 23, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which has barred road construction, reconstruction, and timber harvesting on nearly 59 million acres of National Forest System lands nationwide.  

The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) has cost taxpayers billions through underpriced timber sales and wasteful forest road construction. By dismantling the Roadless Rule, the administration is abandoning its fundamental responsibility as the economic steward of the National Forest System.  

Secretary Rollins unveiled the move at the Western Governors’ Association meeting in New Mexico, calling the rule “outdated” and “overly restrictive.” She argued it thwarts Congress’s intent and ties the Forest Service’s hands, preventing sustainable forest health, wildfire mitigation, and economic development in rural communities. In reality, weakening these safeguards risks billions more in lost revenue from underpriced timber sales and costly road upkeep. 

Roadless Rule Prevents Wasteful Spending and Protects Taxpayers 

In 2020, we found that over the past four decades the Forest Service had spent nearly $2 billion preparing and administering timber sales in Alaska’s Tongass National Forest—the largest U.S. National Forest and one of the areas protected under the Roadless Rule—while collecting just $227 million in receipts, for a net loss of roughly $1.73 billion in constant 2019 dollars. In fiscal year (FY) 2019 alone, sales generated $0.7 million against $16.8 million in expenses, a $16.1 million shortfall. That amounts to an average loss of about $2,974 per thousand board feet sold.  

Rescinding the Roadless Rule would expand those losses across roughly 30 percent of all forest lands, including 60 percent of Forest Service acreage in Utah, 58 percent in Montana, and 92 percent of Alaska’s Tongass National Forest.  

Many of the currently roadless areas have not been accessed by road or logged because of the high cost associated with accessing timber. If these areas were to be developed, the costs associated with administering the sales, subsidizing the road construction, and maintaining the roads would greatly outweigh the revenues generated by the federal sale of the timber. 

In 2001, when the rule was first implemented, the USFS identified a backlog of roughly $8.4 billion in deferred maintenance and reconstruction on the more than 386,000 miles of roads in the Forest Transportation System. By FY2022, the USFS reported a total maintenance backlog of $7.7 billion, $4.85 billion of which was for transportation. The USFS should prioritize its limited funds on repairing necessary transportation infrastructure, not building new roads that are unlikely to generate positive returns for taxpayers.  

Proponents of rescinding the Roadless Rule argue that it restores local control and enables more effective wildfire risk management by permitting road construction for thinning and fuel reduction. However, decades of experience and scientific research challenge this narrative. While targeted thinning near communities can reduce fire risk, broad-scale roadbuilding and logging in remote backcountry areas often do not translate into improved fire outcomes. 

It is unclear what steps the Administration will take next to more formally repeal the Roadless Rule but we’ll be tracking any rule recissions or new rulemakings.