Roadless Rule Proposal Slammed by Widespread Opposition

Earlier this year, US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced her plans to repeal a law that protects more than 50 million acres of wilderness areas in the US.

This law, known as the Roadless Rule, keeps certain areas safe from the building and development of roads and logging infrastructure, which would have significant impacts on the ecosystems and usage of these spaces, including access for skiers.

Following Sec. Rollins’ announcement, the US Dept. of Agriculture opened up a public comment period, which was a significant piece of the process when the Roadless Rule was first established in 2001. The public comment period ended on September 19, 2025 and in it’s 21 days, racked up 625,737 comments.

An independent tally of these comments by organizations showed that at least 500,00 of these comments, or 79.9% of them were sent by Americans in opposition of the Roadless Rule rollback.

In addition to the more than 600K comments, 329 different organizations signed a letter to Sec. Rollins in opposition to the law’s rollback, amongst them major environmental non-profits such as the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, the Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, Cascadia Wildlands, the Grand Canyon Trust, and more.

Following the end of the public comment period, the Wilderness Society, Earthjustice, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Alaska Wilderness League issued a joint statement opposing the rollback. “The backcountry wild areas protected by the Roadless Rule are universally enjoyed and integral to what makes this nation special,” said the statement. “As Americans, we have the right to explore these wild places — and we will not stand for auctioning them off to the highest bidder. Allowing the destruction of these lands would increase wildfire risk, pollute clean drinking water, deprive people of healthy outdoor recreation opportunities, jeopardize small businesses, and threaten the survival of thousands of species. The Roadless Rule must remain intact. These lands must remain protected for the American public — today, and for future generations.”

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Many of the comments from the public, environmental organizations, Congress members, and others noted how a rollback of the Roadless Rule would specifically be detrimental to the containment and prevention of wildfires.

The Roadless Rule also offers protection to many areas in Alaska, Utah, Oregon, California, Washington, Nevada, Wyoming, and more that are popular backcountry ski destinations and would be drastically altered by roadways. Outside of ski access, logging and the building of roads also creates a significant possibility for negative climate related impacts.

Now that the comment period has ended, the USDA will draft an Environmental Impact Statement that’s expected to be finalized by March of 2026. A final decision on the repeal is expected by late 2026.

Click below to learn more about how repealing The Roadless Rule could negatively affect skiers and backcountry enthusiasts.

Related: The “Roadless Rule” Is In Jeopardy, Here’s How Skiers Could Be Affected if it’s Repealed