Roadless Rule FAQs
What is the Roadless Rule?
By the 1990s, more than 380,000 miles of roads had been constructed within our national forests, primarily through federal subsidies to support timber harvesting. This total is nearly eight times the mileage of America’s Interstate Highway System. Most concerningly, the growing maintenance backlog on these miles of forest roads had reached $8.4 billion.
To prevent additional road development, and maintenance costs, large tracts of national forest land that had no permanent roads and remained largely undeveloped were identified and designated as Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRA). In 1999, President Bill Clinton announced an initiative to protect America’s “roadless areas” on top of Reddish Knob in Augusta County, VA because it overlooked four newly identified IRAs: Dry Run Roadless Area, Skidmore Roadless Area, Oak Knob Roadless Area, and Little River Roadless Area.
The federal government spent two years before President Clinton’s announcement and two years afterwards hosting more than 600 public meetings across the country to develop this initiative. More than 1.6 million Americans sent in comments, with 95% supporting strong protections for these IRAs on the national forest. This was the most extensive public participation in the history of federal rulemaking up until this point.
In March of 2001, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) implemented the Roadless Area Conservation Rule (now known as the Roadless Rule), which would prohibit development and fragmentation of IRAs and thus protect some of the wildest, least disturbed parts of the national forest system.
Today, IRAs total approximately 58.2 million acres, or about 30 percent of all National Forest System lands. They are found across 38 states and Puerto Rico. The 2001 Roadless Rule applies to approximately 44.7 million acres.
What are the Benefits of the Roadless Rule safeguarding IRAs?
Clean water: IRAs encompass 354 municipal watersheds that provide clean water for 60 million Americans in 3,400 communities;
Recreation: IRAs provide world-class outdoor recreational opportunities on 43,000 miles of trails for hikers, mountain bikers, climbers, birders, horseback riders, backpackers, hunters, anglers, and backcountry skiers. IRAs provide the scenic backdrop for many of America’s most iconic trails, like the Continental Divide Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Appalachian Trail;
Economic Impact: Aside from cost savings of road construction and maintenance, IRAs generate a significant portion of the outdoor recreation industry’s $730 billion in annual revenue and 6.5 million in jobs across the country;
Biodiversity: IRAs provide habitat for more than 1,600 threatened or endangered plants and animals.
What are the benefits of Virginia Inventoried Roadless Areas?
In Virginia, the Roadless Rule protects 394,000 acres of the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest (GWJNF), more than any other eastern state. It also safeguards nearly 545 miles of rivers.
Many communities in the Shenandoah Valley rely on water from reservoirs that originate in IRAs on the GWJNF. The water from these areas also feeds into the Potomac and James Rivers, benefiting downstream communities across the Commonwealth.
If you recreate on the GWJNF, as a hiker, mountain biker, angler, or hunter, you’ve probably visited an IRA without knowing it. One quarter of the Appalachian Trail runs through Virginia, much of it through IRAs when on the national forest.
In Virginia, our southern Appalachian Mountains are a biodiversity hotspot, and the habitats of 43 at-risk species are found in IRAs.
Why are Inventoried Roadless Areas at Risk?
In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced plans to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
In August 2025, the USDA published a notice of intent to repeal the rule, initiating a three-week public comment period. Over 625,000 comments were submitted by the public, with the majority opposing the repeal.
Soon, the USDA will release the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with an opportunity to comment.
Why Should You Oppose the Repeal of the Roadless Rule?
Economic Burden: The deterioration of the national forest road system persists, and the USFS road maintenance backlog has risen to approximately $8.6 billion. Coupled with the USFS staffing losses, the proposed closure of USFS Regional Offices, and the cuts to the USFS budget, the repeal will only lead to more burden on American taxpayers. As well as the loss of Outdoor Tourism dollars to rural communities abutting IRAs.
Loss of World-Class Recreation Opportunities: IRAs contain 43,000 miles of trails. These areas are home to some of the most valued spots for hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, climbing, horseback riding, and backcountry skiing.
Increased Wildfire Threat: Human activity causes 90% of wildfire ignitions, which are four times more likely to occur near roads. Constructing new roads into IRAs is expected to increase wildfire occurrences on the national forest.
Loss of Biodiversity: These small islands of undeveloped land provide critical habitats for numerous native plants and animals.
Loss of Clean Water: without roads, watersheds are cleaner. The clean water that flows out of roadless areas and into reservoirs save communities millions in water filtration costs.
Resource Extraction: increased oil and gas leasing and industrial logging.
What Can We Do?
The effects of rescinding the Roadless Rule would be fiscally irresponsible, environmentally dangerous, and negatively impactful on neighboring communities. Because our national forests belong to all Americans, YOU can demand to have input. YOU have the power to change this current view that America’s national forests are primarily assets on a financial ledger. The value of our roadless areas is so much greater, but these places cannot advocate for themselves.
The Virginia Wilderness Committee is prepared to defend the Roadless Rule and will continue to push for more permanent protection of Virginia’s wildest places but there is a lot of work ahead of us and we could use your help.
Today, you can
· call your representative
· submit a comment to the Federal Register when the draft EIS is released
· share this information with your friends and family
By the 1990s, more than 380,000 miles of roads had been constructed within our national forests, primarily through federal subsidies to support timber harvesting. This total is nearly eight times the mileage of America’s Interstate Highway System. Most concerningly, the growing maintenance backlog on these miles of forest roads had reached $8.4 billion.
To prevent additional road development, and maintenance costs, large tracts of national forest land that had no permanent roads and remained largely undeveloped were identified and designated as Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRA). In 1999, President Bill Clinton announced an initiative to protect America’s “roadless areas” on top of Reddish Knob in Augusta County, VA because it overlooked four newly identified IRAs: Dry Run Roadless Area, Skidmore Roadless Area, Oak Knob Roadless Area, and Little River Roadless Area.
The federal government spent two years before President Clinton’s announcement and two years afterwards hosting more than 600 public meetings across the country to develop this initiative. More than 1.6 million Americans sent in comments, with 95% supporting strong protections for these IRAs on the national forest. This was the most extensive public participation in the history of federal rulemaking up until this point.
In March of 2001, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) implemented the Roadless Area Conservation Rule (now known as the Roadless Rule), which would prohibit development and fragmentation of IRAs and thus protect some of the wildest, least disturbed parts of the national forest system.
Today, IRAs total approximately 58.2 million acres, or about 30 percent of all National Forest System lands. They are found across 38 states and Puerto Rico. The 2001 Roadless Rule applies to approximately 44.7 million acres.
What are the Benefits of the Roadless Rule safeguarding IRAs?
Clean water: IRAs encompass 354 municipal watersheds that provide clean water for 60 million Americans in 3,400 communities;
Recreation: IRAs provide world-class outdoor recreational opportunities on 43,000 miles of trails for hikers, mountain bikers, climbers, birders, horseback riders, backpackers, hunters, anglers, and backcountry skiers. IRAs provide the scenic backdrop for many of America’s most iconic trails, like the Continental Divide Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Appalachian Trail;
Economic Impact: Aside from cost savings of road construction and maintenance, IRAs generate a significant portion of the outdoor recreation industry’s $730 billion in annual revenue and 6.5 million in jobs across the country;
Biodiversity: IRAs provide habitat for more than 1,600 threatened or endangered plants and animals.
What are the benefits of Virginia Inventoried Roadless Areas?
In Virginia, the Roadless Rule protects 394,000 acres of the George Washington & Jefferson National Forest (GWJNF), more than any other eastern state. It also safeguards nearly 545 miles of rivers.
Many communities in the Shenandoah Valley rely on water from reservoirs that originate in IRAs on the GWJNF. The water from these areas also feeds into the Potomac and James Rivers, benefiting downstream communities across the Commonwealth.
If you recreate on the GWJNF, as a hiker, mountain biker, angler, or hunter, you’ve probably visited an IRA without knowing it. One quarter of the Appalachian Trail runs through Virginia, much of it through IRAs when on the national forest.
In Virginia, our southern Appalachian Mountains are a biodiversity hotspot, and the habitats of 43 at-risk species are found in IRAs.
Why are Inventoried Roadless Areas at Risk?
In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins announced plans to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
In August 2025, the USDA published a notice of intent to repeal the rule, initiating a three-week public comment period. Over 625,000 comments were submitted by the public, with the majority opposing the repeal.
Soon, the USDA will release the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) with an opportunity to comment.
Why Should You Oppose the Repeal of the Roadless Rule?
Economic Burden: The deterioration of the national forest road system persists, and the USFS road maintenance backlog has risen to approximately $8.6 billion. Coupled with the USFS staffing losses, the proposed closure of USFS Regional Offices, and the cuts to the USFS budget, the repeal will only lead to more burden on American taxpayers. As well as the loss of Outdoor Tourism dollars to rural communities abutting IRAs.
Loss of World-Class Recreation Opportunities: IRAs contain 43,000 miles of trails. These areas are home to some of the most valued spots for hunting, fishing, hiking, mountain biking, climbing, horseback riding, and backcountry skiing.
Increased Wildfire Threat: Human activity causes 90% of wildfire ignitions, which are four times more likely to occur near roads. Constructing new roads into IRAs is expected to increase wildfire occurrences on the national forest.
Loss of Biodiversity: These small islands of undeveloped land provide critical habitats for numerous native plants and animals.
Loss of Clean Water: without roads, watersheds are cleaner. The clean water that flows out of roadless areas and into reservoirs save communities millions in water filtration costs.
Resource Extraction: increased oil and gas leasing and industrial logging.
What Can We Do?
The effects of rescinding the Roadless Rule would be fiscally irresponsible, environmentally dangerous, and negatively impactful on neighboring communities. Because our national forests belong to all Americans, YOU can demand to have input. YOU have the power to change this current view that America’s national forests are primarily assets on a financial ledger. The value of our roadless areas is so much greater, but these places cannot advocate for themselves.
The Virginia Wilderness Committee is prepared to defend the Roadless Rule and will continue to push for more permanent protection of Virginia’s wildest places but there is a lot of work ahead of us and we could use your help.
Today, you can
· call your representative
· submit a comment to the Federal Register when the draft EIS is released
· share this information with your friends and family