From the Engelmann spruce stands in the High Uintas to the ponderosa forests of the Pine Valley Mountains, roughly four million acres of roadless areas span Utah’s national forests. Much of those remote lands have been protected from logging and road construction for over two decades, but the Trump administration just took the next step to potentially change that.
The U.S. Forest Service filed its official notice of intent to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule on Friday, launching a 21-day public comment period.
“It is vital that we properly manage our federal lands to create healthy, resilient, and productive forests for generations to come,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said in a news release on Wednesday. “We look forward to hearing directly from the people and communities we serve as we work together to implement productive and commonsense policy for forest land management.”
Not all feel the Agriculture Department is reviewing the issue as collaboratively as they could, though.
“We would, honestly, welcome a transparent, collaborative process to determine if tweaks to the rule would allow us to better protect the values of roadless areas while also better protecting communities of people at risk of catastrophic fire,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited. Rescinding the roadless rule, Wood added, instead allows “chaos to unfold.”
Utah leaders have long opposed the roadless rule, though, and Gov. Spencer Cox celebrated when Secretary Rollins first announced the Trump administration’s plans to upend it in June.
“For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has blocked us from responsibly accessing and managing over four million acres of forest,” Cox said in a June statement from the Agriculture Department. “It’s prevented us from removing dead and dying timber, fueling catastrophic wildfires across our state. Ending this rule is a critical step toward healthier forests and safer communities.”
(Christopher Cherrington | The Salt Lake Tribune)
In 2019, Utah asked the Agriculture Department to create a Utah-specific roadless rule so the state and Forest Service could “more proactively address threats” such as wildfires, invasive species, conifer encroachment and aspen decline.
Roadless rule and wildfire
The Trump administration and Utah leaders have blamed the roadless rule for the uptick in devastating wildfires across the West.
“For nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has frustrated land managers and served as a barrier to action – prohibiting road construction, which has limited wildfire suppression and active forest management,” said Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz in a Wednesday statement from the Agriculture Department.
However, scientists told The Tribune that the relationship between roadless areas and wildfires is complex.
“Changes in roadless policies might reduce fire risk or might increase fire risk, and it’s really going to be complicated depending on the location and what management is actually done,” said William Anderegg, climate scientist and director of the Wilkes Center at the University of Utah.
(Chris Caldwell | Special to The Tribune) The Forsyth Fire burns near Pine Valley, Sunday, June 22, 2025.
While roads may increase access for fuel reduction and fire suppression activities, they also bring more people and vehicles that spark fires. Humans start roughly 70% of wildfires in Utah, according to Utah Fire Sense.
Roadless areas may also not be forest managers’ top priority for wildfire prevention given they’re often furthest from homes.
“There’s only so many acres we could actually try to manage for fire risk, and we’re going to want to really prioritize areas that are close to where people live,” Anderegg said, “especially in the wildland urban interface. And those are often not roadless areas.”
Conservationists, recreationists speak out
Beyond managing forests for wildfire risk, environmental groups, sportsmen and recreators have raised concerns about harm to ecosystems and outdoor lifestyles.
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers said roadless areas are “backcountry strongholds that hunters and anglers rely on for healthy fish and wildlife habitat, unparalleled opportunities in the field, and clean water,” in a release on Wednesday.
“The Roadless Rule is not just a policy—it’s a promise to future generations,” said Andrew Wetzler, senior vice president of nature at the Natural Resource Defense Council. “It’s our shield against reckless logging, a guarantee that America’s wildest forests will remain sources of clean water, unparalleled recreation, thriving wildlife, and climate resilience.”
In total, the Trump administration’s proposal would rollback protections on roughly 45 million acres of the nearly 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas on national forests across the nation, according to the department.
The public has until Sept. 19 to weigh in on the proposed rescission of the roadless rule. Then the Trump administration will create an environmental impact statement, which it expects to complete by March of next year. The department plans to release a final rule in late 2026.