The Trump administration aims to end the prohibition on logging on tens of millions of acres of roadless areas in national forests by the end of next year, according to a draft schedule at the Forest Service.
The draft timeline, viewed by POLITICO’s E&E News and circulating among outside organizations, sets a schedule for drafting the new policy, conducting public comment sessions and consulting with tribes before making a final decision in November or December of 2026.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins has already said she’s decided to rescind the roadless-area protections, which have blocked road construction, timber harvesting and other types of development — with few interruptions — since 2001. The rule applies on 58.5 million of the forest system’s 193 million acres, with Alaska’s Tongass National Forest having the most in any one place.
In a June 23 statement, Rollins said, “Once again, President Trump is removing absurd obstacles to common sense management of our natural resources by rescinding the overly restrictive roadless rule.”
