Forest Service Proposes Rescinding Roadless Rule Across National Forests

The U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, and every hunter and angler who uses national forests should be paying attention.

The agency says the roadless rule has limited road construction and active management inside inventoried roadless areas for 25 years. Today that covers more than 44 million acres out of the 193-million-acre National Forest System. USDA argues rescinding the rule would give local forest managers more room to deal with wildfire risk, insects, disease and forest health instead of applying one national restriction everywhere.

That argument matters. So does the other side of the ledger. Roadless country also holds some of the best elk, mule deer, trout, turkey, bear and backcountry hunting ground left in America. Once roads go in, pressure goes up, habitat gets chopped up, and the character of a place can change for good.

This is not a bumper-sticker issue. Some forests need serious active management. Some places need access work. Some country should stay hard to reach because that is exactly why it still hunts and fishes like it does.

Hunters and anglers should read the proposal, watch the comment window, and speak in specifics. Name the drainage, trailhead, winter range, spawning creek, fire scar or access problem you actually know. Public land decisions get made by people who show up before the gate moves.