Brian Willis: Brian.Willis@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, the Sierra Club and partners around the country announced that more than one million public comments were submitted in opposition to the Trump administration’s proposed repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, demonstrating overwhelming public support for protecting some of the nation’s most treasured national forests.
“When the Forest Service spearheaded creation of the Roadless Rule in 2001 they used a robust public process to develop commonsense conservation policy. Contrast that with this administration, which aims to scrap the Roadless Rule for specious reasons while offering woefully inadequate opportunity for the public to engage. Despite the short comment period and total absence of public meetings, more than 1 million comments were submitted in support of keeping the Roadless Rule intact” said Alex Craven, National Forest Campaign Manager for the Sierra Club. “That should come as no surprise. Time and again, the American public has made it clear that they care about protecting our remaining wild places – and that’s exactly what the Roadless Rule does.”
The Roadless Rule has protected millions of acres of national forest lands from most road construction and logging for more than 25 years. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule was adopted in 2001 and established nationwide protections limiting road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting in inventoried roadless areas of the National Forest System. The Trump administration has proposed rescinding the rule and removing protections for 45 million acres of national forest across the country.
In the leadup to promulgating the Roadless Area Conservation Rule in 2001, over 1.6 million comments were received by the Forest Service – 95% supported a strong rule. In 2025, more than 600,000 people commented on the Trump Administration's Notice of Intent to repeal the Roadless Rule – analysis showed that 99% supported keeping the rule intact. When yesterday’s comment period closed, over a million comments had been submitted and initial analysis showed 99% support keeping the rule intact.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.