The Trump administration is moving to repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a policy that protects nearly 60 million acres of national forests and grasslands from development, while simultaneously restructuring the U.S. Forest Service.
Established 25 years ago, the Roadless Rule has been a cornerstone of public land conservation, preventing road building, logging, and mining in undeveloped forest tracts. The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) previously highlighted the rule's benefits as fiscally responsible, ecologically critical, and widely popular. Its repeal would open these vast areas to extractive industries.
Concurrently, the administration is undertaking significant changes to the USFS itself, including the closure and consolidation of local research stations, the sale of regional office spaces, and the relocation of its headquarters from Washington, D.C., to Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Sierra Club is hosting an online event titled "Protect Our Oldest Forests" on Tuesday, May 26, at 4 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. ET, to discuss the interconnectedness of these issues and their historical context. Dan Ritzman, Conservation Campaign Director for the Sierra Club, invites the public to learn more about these developments and potential actions.