Administration Announces Roadless Rule Rollback, Setting Stage to Open 58 Million Acres to Logging

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it would rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, a provision that generally prohibits commercial logging and road construction on 58.5 million acres across the National Forest System. A central component of America's conservation protection regime, the rule safeguards the outstanding natural values of the nation's forests for all Americans. NRDC played a central role in advocating for the rule's adoption and has worked to defend it since.

The following is a statement from Garett Rose, senior attorney at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):

"The Trump administration’s deranged drive to take us back to the bad old days of destructive logging remains undiminished. The Roadless Rule is one of the country’s conservation success stories, safeguarding singular natural values across nearly 60 million acres of America’s great forests.  NRDC has been defending the Rule for decades—we have no intention of stopping now."

NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).