Stand up for the South’s wildest forests
For nearly a quarter-century, the Roadless Rule has safeguarded hundreds of thousands of acres of the most natural and least developed public lands in the South.
But now, the U.S. Forest Service are actively working to roll back the roadless rule, rushing to build roads in order to disqualify these areas from future protection and to create toeholds for logging and fossil fuel development.
Stand up for our wildest forests.
What is the Roadless Rule?
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, better known as the “Roadless Rule,” was adopted in 2001 after decades of broad, bipartisan support from across the country. At its core, the rule protects the wildest parts of our national forests from harmful roadbuilding and the resulting logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling.
For decades, the Roadless Rule has had massive, bipartisan public support and protections for roadless areas have become incredibly popular.
People across the political spectrum, in both urban and rural areas, in all parts of the country, and from every user group from hunters and anglers to mountain bikers, agree that these rare roadless areas should be stewarded so that future generations can enjoy them the same way we have.
Sam Evans, National Forests and Parks Program Leader
Roadless protections are especially important in the South, where much of our public land has already been fragmented by roadbuilding to extractive industry.
“People in the Southeast and across the country want a place to get away from the noise and commotion of roads and development,” adds Evans, a senior attorney. “The roadless rule promises that our least-developed public lands can be enjoyed by all of us for generations to come without the threat of reckless roadbuilding and other destructive projects.
Where are roadless areas in the South?
There are more than 600,000 acres of public lands protected by the roadless rule in the South, with roadless areas in every southern state. If the roadless rule is revoked, these places would be at risk of harmful roadbuilding and development. Here’s what’s at stake in the South:
- Alabama: 13,000 acres
- Georgia: 56,000 acres
- North Carolina: 144,000 acres
- South Carolina, 7,000 acres
- Tennessee: 66,000 acres
- Virginia: 331,000 acres
Losing roadless areas
An attack on our most natural places and the communities that depend on them
These roadless areas anchor a thriving recreation economy and are home to countless popular recreation destinations.
The iconic Appalachian Trail weaves through many roadless areas, like Virginia’s Bear Creek roadless area and the stunning Wesser Bald in North Carolina. Roadless places near Mt. Cheaha and Dugger Mountain in Alabama are hot spots for backpackers looking to get away from urban development. North Carolina’s Laurel Mountain roadless area draws mountain bikers from across the region. Mountaintown Creek roadless area in Georgia is popular with mountain bikers too, and it’s also home to one the state’s largest trees, the famous Gennett Poplar.
Roadless areas protect more than 800 miles of rivers in the South, like the headwaters of Tennessee’s Tellico River. These protections safeguard waterways from pollution, ensuring communities downstream have access to clean drinking water and supporting thriving fish habitat. The crystal clear trout streams in the South Mills roadless area in North Carolina and Little River roadless area in Virginia, for example, are beloved by trout anglers from all over. These areas, like many other roadless areas in the region, have also been used by hunters for generations.
Rare and endangered animals and plants depend on the intact nature of roadless areas. In South Carolina’s upcountry, for example, roadless areas in the Chattooga River watershed shelter several rare species, including the federally threatened small whorled pogonia, a delicate flower that grows in the moist, productive forests the Forest Service most often targets for logging.
Removing roadless protections would do long-lasting damage to our public lands and the communities that depend on them. Public lands tourism is a major driver of local — and often rural — economies throughout the South, supporting local restaurants, hotels, and recreation outfitters. Studies show that the outdoor recreation industry creates more than 680,000 jobs in our region.
Rescinding the roadless rule would take away future generations’ opportunity to hike, fish, hunt, or enjoy our least developed landscapes, while putting centuries-old forests at risk and hurting wildlife that depend on unfractured forest for habitat.
Sam Evans, National Parks and Forests Leader
A rushed process based on faulty logic
In June, United States Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced plans to rescind the roadless rule by sometime next year. This rushed process leaves little room for public input, and it is intended to open roadless areas to roadbuilding, logging, and other harmful development as quickly as possible. If the Forest Service gets a toehold in these places, they’ll be carved up and their resources sold to the highest bidder.
The rushed approach is a sharp contrast from when the rule was being implemented. Before the roadless rule went into effect, the Forest Service held more than 600 meetings across the country and welcomed robust comments on the rule. That resulted in more than 1.6 million comments, making the roadless rule the most-commented on rule in U.S. history at the time. The vast majority of comments supported the creation of the roadless rule to protect some of the nation’s wildest public lands. In statements to the press, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Forest Service leadership claim the rule will help prevent wildfires, but the roadless rule already has carveouts that allow the agencies to do fire prevention work in roadless areas.
Additionally, roads will actually make wildfires more likely, since the single biggest risk factor for wildfire ignition is proximity to a road. To be clear, this isn’t about wildfire. In a required legal notice, the Forest Service gives the game away: It says it is repealing the roadless rule so that it can “take immediate action” to develop “timber, energy and mineral production . . . to the maximum possible extent.”
Take action now.
The USDA has now initiated a rushed rulemaking process. That means we have an opportunity to have our voice heard, but we have to act quickly: Comments are due September 19. Submit your comment today to stand up for the South’s wildest forest.