Media Attention Surrounding Proposed Roadless Rule Appeal Intensifies
The government has launched another attack on our public lands by beginning the process of rescinding the Roadless Rule. Enacted in 2001, the Roadless Rule has been a critical safeguard allowing trees to mature, safe from chainsaws and bulldozers. Some of our last remaining old-growth, these roadless forests protect clean drinking water for millions of Americans and provide essential habitat for hundreds of threatened and endangered species. Here in Washington State, the Roadless Rule protects 2 million acres of wild forests accessible via 830 trails totaling nearly 4,000 miles, meaning that many of our most beloved public lands are under threat.
September 10, 2025 | WA State Standard
Backlash mounts over proposed repeal of protections for 2M acres of forest in WA
Tribes and environmental advocates across the Pacific Northwest are rallying in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposed repeal of the Roadless Rule—a long-standing federal policy protecting 2 million acres of national forests in Washington from logging, mining, and road construction. As public comment remains open through September 19, a powerful Indigenous-led campaign is traveling 1,700 miles to raise awareness and gather support.
September 8, 2025 | Olympic Peninsula Environmental News
Sportsmen Fight Trump Plan To Log Roadless Headwaters on Olympic Peninsula Public Lands
Sportsmen for Wild Olympics has released a new map showing the potential damage to critical salmon streams and public access areas if protections under the federal Roadless Rule are repealed. As the Trump administration moves to open these backcountry lands to logging, the group is urging Congress to pass the Wild Olympics Act to permanently safeguard some of the last intact headwaters and ancient forests on the Olympic Peninsula.
September 7, 2025 | Public News Service
Proposed rollback of Roadless Rule puts WA’s old growth at risk
Environmental advocates are sounding the alarm over a federal proposal to repeal the Roadless Rule, a decades-old policy that protects 2 million acres of national forestland in Washington from logging and road construction. Conservationists say the rollback would open the door to commercial logging in some of the state’s last old-growth forests, threatening salmon habitat, clean water, and outdoor recreation. “This is just the next attempt of a larger attack on our public lands … [we’re in the middle of] a 21-day public comment period, which is the shortest I’ve ever seen from the federal government ever.” —Tom Uniack, executive director of Washington Wild.
