Forest Service Seeks Public Comment on Roadless Rule Repeal

The US Forest Service is seeking public comment on its rescission proposal regarding roadless rules, which have limited road construction in 45 million acres of roadless National Forest areas.

Here is the request for comment (with a September 19 deadline for submissions):

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/08/29/2025-16581/special-areas-roadless-area-conservation-national-forest-system-lands

Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said the roadless rules, imposed in 2001, are outdated. He said that forests are “dangerously overstocked and increasingly threatened by drought, mortality, insect-borne disease, and wildfire.”

Some ecologists have argued that an increase in forest roads would tend to increase wildfires by introducing non-native species. They also assert that roads tend to be the most dominant place for “wildfire ignitions”.