Proposed Rescission of the Roadless Rule

Photo of the Wild & Scenic Red River

Public Comment Deadline: October 6, 2026.
For more than 25 years, the Roadless Area Conservation Rule has provided nationwide protection for largely undeveloped portions of our National Forests, and in Kentucky this includes Wolfpen roadless area and a stretch of the Red River that is part of the national Wild and Scenic Rivers system," KWA has worked for years to protect and restore the Red River Watershed and opposes the new Roadless Rule. The rule generally prohibits new road construction, reconstruction of roads, and certain timber harvests within designated inventoried roadless areas. The Forest Service is now proposing to eliminate the rule entirely and instead rely primarily on individual National Forest management plans to determine how these areas are managed.

These roadless areas matter for much more than whether a road gets built. Intact forests protect headwater streams, reduce erosion and sediment entering waterways, provide habitat for fish and wildlife, and support hunting, fishing, hiking and other forms of outdoor recreation. The Forest Service itself acknowledges that rescinding the rule could create additional opportunities for roads, timber management and access for mineral or energy development in areas where existing forest plans would allow those activities.

KWA is particularly concerned about what removing a national baseline of protection could mean for water quality and forested watersheds. Roads are one of the most significant sources of erosion and sediment on forest lands, and once an undeveloped area becomes fragmented by roads, the consequences can extend well beyond the road itself. National Wildlife Federation has likewise raised concerns that repeal could fragment wildlife habitat and threaten clean and reliable water supplies as well as hunting, fishing and outdoor recreation.

This proposal does not immediately authorize logging or road construction in every roadless area and future projects would still be subject to applicable forest plans and other environmental laws. But it would remove the nationwide protection that currently prevents many of those activities in the first place and shift those decisions to forest-by-forest management.

What KWA is asking you to do: Tell the Forest Service to retain the Roadless Rule and its nationwide protections for inventoried roadless areas. Comments can emphasize the importance of intact headwaters and forested watersheds to clean drinking water, healthy streams, fish and wildlife habitat, hunting and fishing, and Kentucky’s outdoor recreation economy.
Comments are due October 6, 2026. Comments may be submitted through Regulations.gov HERE.
Your Voice Matters
Public comment periods are one of the most direct opportunities Kentuckians have to influence how regulations are written before decisions become final. Comments do not need to be long or technical to be useful. Personal experience such as where you hunt, fish, paddle, hike, obtain drinking water, own land, or have seen the effects of erosion and poorly managed roads, can help agencies understand what these decisions mean on the ground.
For each of these proposals, KWA encourages commenters to explain why the issue matters to them, identify the specific concern they want the agency to address, and clearly state what they want the agency to do.