PRESS STATEMENT: Trump launches unprecedented attack on America's public lands, striking at the beating heart of our treasured National Forests
- Zack Porter
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
The US Forest Service has initiated a process to rescind the immensely popular and widely-supported 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, putting 45 million acres of the healthiest and wildest forests in the nation in the crosshairs, including approximately 260,000-acres across the White and Green Mountain National Forests in New Hampshire and Vermont
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 29, 2025
MEDIA CONTACTS
Zack Porter, Standing Trees, zporter@standingtrees.org, 802-552-0160
WASHINGTON, DC — Today, the Trump administration formally launched a process to strip protections for 45 million acres of Roadless Areas across the country, including 260,000 acres here in New England. The Trump Administration is attempting to “sprint” through the public engagement required to rescind the rule, giving the public until just September 19 to comment on their intent to revoke a regulation that took 3 years and 1.6 million comments to develop. The “Roadless Rule” might sound wonky, but its impact is easy to understand. Since 2001, the Rule has effectively protected many of our country’s most iconic natural landscapes from logging and roadbuilding, including places like the Presidential Range, Franconia Ridge, Mount Moosilauke, and White Rocks (pictured above) here in New England.
"The Trump team's proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule is a threat to every American," said Standing Trees Executive Director, Zack Porter. "If National Forests are the lungs of our nation, our roadless areas are the nation's beating heart. No part of the American atlas works harder for the American public each and every day. Roadless areas are factories churning out clean water, clean air, and habitat for all manner of God's creation. The Forest Service created the Roadless Rule to 'protect essential headwaters, save taxpayers money by directing forestry activities to appropriate landscapes, and provide unparalleled opportunities for families seeking backcountry experiences,' in the words of former Chief Dale Bosworth, who served under President Bush. We and our partners will not stand for this shortsighted attack on what makes America great: our shared, wild public lands, beloved by Republicans and Democrats, alike."
As Standing Trees' new StoryMap makes clear, Roadless Areas represent many of our best opportunities for landscape scale rewilding in New England and beyond. We urgently need to be expanding Roadless Areas and protecting them more permanently, not putting them on the chopping block for short term private gain.
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