Roadless Rule Removal: Lincoln National Forest Responds to Questions
Approximately 158,000 acres of Lincoln National Forest can be affected by the Roadless Rule removal. Get the official Forest Service word with the Reader
This summer, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is rescinding the Roadless Rule.
The 2001 rule prohibited road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvests on nearly 60 million acres of national forests and grasslands.
What Does This Mean? Reader Questions
The Reader reached out to the Lincoln National Forest (LNF) Service with a list of questions, including:
How will forest management priorities and allowed activities change if protections for roadless areas are removed? And, how many acres of Lincoln National Forest could this affect?
Would increased road access help or hinder wildfire prevention and suppression efforts?
How will local community and stakeholder input be incorporated into decisions about land use and access?
How might changes affect outdoor recreation, tourism, and local jobs tied to the forest?
How will updates or decisions about roadless area management be communicated to local communities and stakeholders?
The Official Word
Here’s the Lincoln National Forest Service’s email response to our questions:
“Thank you for your inquiry. We received your questions below from the Lincoln National Forest. Here’s what we can share:
Attribution: USDA Spokesperson
Secretary Rollins’ announcement marks the first step in rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule — a decision that reflects the Department’s commitment to President Trump’s executive actions to expand American timber production and unleash American energy. Rescinding this overly prescriptive rule will give federal foresters and land managers the latitude to work alongside the communities they serve to make locally driven land management decisions based on their unique local conditions -- reducing wildfire risk, protecting infrastructure, and keeping forests healthy.
Repealing the Roadless Rule is more important than ever because 24.5 million acres of the Wildland Urban Interface, where forests meet communities, are either in roadless areas or within a mile of roadless – making increased access a major public safety issue. Roads improve access for wildland firefighting when timing is critical, and lives are at risk. As the Secretary stated, the lack of maintenance and access have frustrated land managers for years, including firefighters who haven’t been able to reach fires in time to slow their spread.
There’s is a large body of research -- including a recent intensive review of over 40 case studies -- showing that fuel reduction activities can change how fires burn and reduce fire severity by more than 60%.
It’s also important to note that fire can be beneficial for forest ecosystems, thinning overgrown forests and “ladder fuels” that carry low burning fires into the upper tree canopy. Road access allows for more prescribed burning and other treatments that change fire behavior, transforming catastrophic conditions into low-intensity fires that are more easily managed, lower risk, and beneficial for the landscape.
As Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz recently wrote: “The forests we see today are not the same as the forests of 2001. They are dangerously overstocked and increasingly threatened by drought, insect-born disease, and wildfire. Currently, nearly half of our roadless acres – over 28 million – are at high or very high risk of catastrophic wildfire and are in desperate need of treatment. I applaud Secretary Rollins for taking decisive action to provide us with the tools and decision space we need to truly care for our forests and, in turn, protect the people and communities we serve.”
The rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule would not automatically authorize commercial harvest, road construction, or any other on-the-ground activity.
A rescission of the roadless rule would only eliminate the national road construction and tree cutting prohibitions, except for Colorado and Idaho that are under state-specific rules. Subsequent decisions regarding land management would need to comply with a specific national forest or grassland management plan and other applicable laws and regulations. Land management plans are developed or amended through public involvement.
The Lincoln National Forest spans about 1.1 million acres. Our inventoried roadless areas cover roughly 14% of the total Forest, which converts to approximately 158,000 acres.”
Public Comment Open Through September 19th
On August 27th, Rollins opened the public comment period for the proposed rule change until September 19th, 2025.
Find more info and leave a comment at the Federal Register: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/08/29/2025-16581/special-areas-roadless-area-conservation-national-forest-system-lands
The USDA website states that “the public is invited to comment on the potential effects of the proposal to guide the development of the environmental impact statement.”
The Reader will continue to report developments in this story.
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