Contact: Emma Shedd, emma.shedd@sierraclub.org
Houghton — On Thursday June 25th, the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, Keweenaw Youth for Climate Action, and Keweenaw Indivisible will be joined by community members for a People’s Hearing in support of preserving the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, also known as the Roadless Rule.
The Trump administration began the process of rescinding the Roadless Rule last August, but no public hearings have been announced. As a result, public lands advocacy groups across the country are organizing hearings where community members can speak out about the importance of roadless areas and protecting wildlands. Public testimonies will be recorded and submitted in the upcoming comment period.
The Roadless Rule was enacted in 2001 following an extensive public participation process that included more than 600 public hearings across the country and prompted 1.6 million public comments, 95% of which were in favor of protecting roadless areas.
When the Trump administration proposed rescinding the Roadless Rule last fall, the initial comment period was remarkably short, lasting only three weeks rather than the more common 30 to 90 day window. Despite this truncated timeline, more than 200,000 comments were submitted with more than 99% opposing the repeal.
Comments on the repeal made at this People’s Hearing will be submitted during the next comment period following release of the draft Environmental Impact Statement.
The Roadless Rule protects nearly 45 million acres across the United States, and sixteen thousand acres of undeveloped public lands in Michigan, including popular areas like Norwich Plains in the Ottawa National Forest and Government Island in the Hiawatha National Forest.
WHO: Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, Keweenaw Youth for Climate Action, and Keweenaw Indivisible
WHEN: Thursday, June 25, 2026 from 6:30pm to 8:30pm
WHERE: U.J. Noblet Forestry Building room G002
1400 Townsend Dr, Houghton, MI 49931
VISUALS: Community members will be delivering public testimony at a podium with amplified sound in front of an audience.
BACKGROUND:
- The Roadless Rule, which has been in effect with broad bipartisan support since 2001, protects some of America’s last-standing, undisturbed wildlands, providing safe habitat and migration corridors for wildlife.
- Forests, wetlands, and other undeveloped lands protected by the Rule are home to many threatened and endangered species, including wolves, lynx, and wood turtles. Currently, roadless areas provide millions of acres of undeveloped backcountry for game animal populations to thrive.
- Roadless forests offer people a wide range of recreational activities and protect the headwaters of major rivers, which are vital for maintaining clean, mountain-fed drinking water nationwide.
- Rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule would open these wild areas to the highest bidder for logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling.
- You can see where roadless areas are in Michigan with this map.
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