Cantwell to Trump Administration: Don’t Repeal Critical Protection for Last Remaining Wild Forests
08.19.26 Cantwell to Trump Administration: Don’t Repeal Critical Protection for Last Remaining Wild Forests For over 25 years, the Roadless Rule has blocked logging and development in pristine national forest land, including over 2 million acres in WA; Data suggests wildfires are more likely to start near roads EDMONDS, WA – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Finance Committee, called on the Trump administration to reverse course and abandon plans to repeal the U.S. Forest Service’s Roadless Rule. For a quarter century, the Roadless Rule has shielded 58.5 million acres of the most pristine and treasured areas within the National Forest System from roadbuilding and logging, including over 2 million acres in Washington state. This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), opened public comment on its Roadless Rule repeal – a step towards eliminating vital safeguards for America’s public lands. “At a moment when climate change is intensifying wildfire risks, this administration is moving to strip protections from some of America’s last remaining wild forests,” said Sen. Cantwell. “Roadless areas safeguard clean-water sources, sustain critical wildlife habitat, and support outdoor recreation that communities across the country depend on. Congress should pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act to permanently preserve the benefits these public lands provide our nation and future generations.” New research published this year shows that wildfire ignitions are more likely near roads, and that new roads in formerly roadless areas could increase wildfire risks. Sen. Cantwell has repeatedly introduced legislation to codify the Roadless Rule into law, including as early as 2001 . Sen. Cantwell was also a vociferous and persistent critic of the Trump administration’s elimination of roadless protections for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. In June 2026, Sen. Cantwell reminded her colleagues that keeping the Roadless Rule isn’t just good conservation policy, but it’s good fiscal policy, too. In September 2025, Sen. Cantwell called on the USDA to delay its repeal of the Roadless Rule and consider additional input, leading a letter with 55 Democratic colleagues to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and USFS Chief Tom Schultz. In June 2025, Sen. Cantwell announced a renewed push to enshrine the USFS’s Roadless Rule protections into law. The Roadless Area Conservation Act would codify the 2001 Roadless Rule, which was developed by the USFS during the Clinton Administration and finalized after several years of deliberation and 600 public meetings in local communities nationwide. The Roadless Rule enjoys strong public support, as evidenced by the overwhelming majority of 2.5 million comments submitted on the Roadless Forest Protection Rule – more than 95% – were in support of protecting roadless areas. A March 2019 poll by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that three out of four respondents said they supported keeping roadless forest protections, while only 16% opposed it. That level of support changed little between respondents living in rural or non-rural areas and across party affiliation and political views. For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has prevailed over numerous court challenges and administrative and legislative attacks . The first Trump administration weakened the rule, and in October 2020 the administration removed roadless protections for over 9 million acres of pristine forest lands in the Tongass National Forest, threatening old-growth forest and southeast Alaska’s robust tourism and fishing economies. Under the Biden administration, the protections in the Tongass were restored but then removed again by the second Trump administration. In April 2026, the Trump administration enacted a sweeping rollback of environmental protections across nearly 60% of U.S. national forests, including about 26 million acres of previously protected Roadless areas. This policy shift was formalized through an emergency directive by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, following a presidential executive order aimed at expediting logging projects by streamlining permitting, removing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, and exempting affected forests from administrative objection processes that previously allowed for challenges by environmental groups, tribes, and local government. Print Email Tweet Next Article Previous Article
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08.19.26 Cantwell to Trump Administration: Don’t Repeal Critical Protection for Last Remaining Wild Forests For over 25 years, the Roadless Rule has blocked logging and development in pristine national forest land, including over 2 million acres in WA; Data suggests wildfires are more likely to start near roads EDMONDS, WA – U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Finance Committee, called on the Trump administration to reverse course and abandon plans to repeal the U.S. Forest Service’s Roadless Rule. For a quarter century, the Roadless Rule has shielded 58.5 million acres of the most pristine and treasured areas within the National Forest System from roadbuilding and logging, including over 2 million acres in Washington state. This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), opened public comment on its Roadless Rule repeal – a step towards eliminating vital safeguards for America’s public lands. “At a moment when climate change is intensifying wildfire risks, this administration is moving to strip protections from some of America’s last remaining wild forests,” said Sen. Cantwell. “Roadless areas safeguard clean-water sources, sustain critical wildlife habitat, and support outdoor recreation that communities across the country depend on. Congress should pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act to permanently preserve the benefits these public lands provide our nation and future generations.” New research published this year shows that wildfire ignitions are more likely near roads, and that new roads in formerly roadless areas could increase wildfire risks. Sen. Cantwell has repeatedly introduced legislation to codify the Roadless Rule into law, including as early as 2001 . Sen. Cantwell was also a vociferous and persistent critic of the Trump administration’s elimination of roadless protections for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska. In June 2026, Sen. Cantwell reminded her colleagues that keeping the Roadless Rule isn’t just good conservation policy, but it’s good fiscal policy, too. In September 2025, Sen. Cantwell called on the USDA to delay its repeal of the Roadless Rule and consider additional input, leading a letter with 55 Democratic colleagues to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and USFS Chief Tom Schultz. In June 2025, Sen. Cantwell announced a renewed push to enshrine the USFS’s Roadless Rule protections into law. The Roadless Area Conservation Act would codify the 2001 Roadless Rule, which was developed by the USFS during the Clinton Administration and finalized after several years of deliberation and 600 public meetings in local communities nationwide. The Roadless Rule enjoys strong public support, as evidenced by the overwhelming majority of 2.5 million comments submitted on the Roadless Forest Protection Rule – more than 95% – were in support of protecting roadless areas. A March 2019 poll by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that three out of four respondents said they supported keeping roadless forest protections, while only 16% opposed it. That level of support changed little between respondents living in rural or non-rural areas and across party affiliation and political views. For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has prevailed over numerous court challenges and administrative and legislative attacks . The first Trump administration weakened the rule, and in October 2020 the administration removed roadless protections for over 9 million acres of pristine forest lands in the Tongass National Forest, threatening old-growth forest and southeast Alaska’s robust tourism and fishing economies. Under the Biden administration, the protections in the Tongass were restored but then removed again by the second Trump administration. In April 2026, the Trump administration enacted a sweeping rollback of environmental protections across nearly 60% of U.S. national forests, including about 26 million acres of previously protected Roadless areas. This policy shift was formalized through an emergency directive by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, following a presidential executive order aimed at expediting logging projects by streamlining permitting, removing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, and exempting affected forests from administrative objection processes that previously allowed for challenges by environmental groups, tribes, and local government. Print Email Tweet Previous Article
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