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Cases / Law, regulation and treaties · United States · 2026

US moves to end 25-year-old Roadless Rule for national forests

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

The Trump administration has advanced a proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule, which protects national forest land from road building. The proposal is not final, and the sources reviewed say it would open about 44.7 million acres to roads.

What?
The Trump administration moved ahead with a proposal to end the Roadless Rule on national forests; the proposal is not final. OPB
Where?
National forests across the United States; the Tongass in Alaska is covered by a separate exemption record. Harvard EELP
When?
Proposal reported in August 2026. OPB
Who?
Gained
  • Timber sector — would gain access to roadless national forest land, according to the sources reviewed
Lost
  • Roadless national forest land — about 44.7 million acres could be opened to roads OPB
Harmed
None on record
Why?
The sources reviewed give fire prevention and tree thinning as the rationale.
How?
An administrative proposal to rescind the rule, not yet a final rule. OPB
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

OPB reported on 18 August 2026 that the Trump administration is moving ahead to end the 25-year-old Roadless Rule on national forests; the proposal is not final.

According to the sources reviewed, the proposal would open about 44.7 million acres of roadless land to roads, out of an inventory of about 58.5 million acres.

Harvard EELP's Alaska Roadless Rule tracker records a 2020 exemption for the Tongass forest, the rule's restoration in 2023, and a 2025 proposal to exempt it again.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the Agriculture Department published the proposal on 18 August 2026, covering about 59 million acres, or 30% of national forest land.
    • None on record Reported without a linked source: community conservation areas and forest rangers are losing ground, according to Mongabay and bioGraphic coverage.
    • None on record The sources reviewed give no comment period, no final rule, and no estimate of timber or fire-risk effects.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society✓ Researchers

    Press and investigations

    Researchers

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    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
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