Roadless Areas

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule was issued in 2001 to create oversight of road building in national forests. By prohibiting most commercial logging and road building in 58.5 million acres of national forest, the Roadless Rule helps preserve roadless forest and the diverse wildlife and plant life that dwell within them.

In 2005, a repeal of the Rule by the Bush administration replaced federal protections with voluntary processes and opened up the last of our wild forests to logging, mining and other damaging activities.

In response, four states and twenty environmental groups including Defenders of Wildlife sued. On September 20, 2006, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the Bush Administration's repeal of the Roadless Rule violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act and reinstated the 2001 Roadless Rule. Please see links below for additional information.

Additional resources