Roadless Areas
On June 23, 2025, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke L. Rollins announced the intent to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. That rule established prohibitions on road construction, road reconstruction and timber harvests on nearly 60 million acres of national forests and grasslands. Today, the 2001 Roadless Rule pertains to nearly 45 million acres of national forests and grasslands.
The proposed rescission includes Tongass National Forest in Alaska. The rescission does not affect the state-specific rules for management of roadless areas in Idaho and Colorado.
America’s national forests and grasslands comprise diverse ecosystems, historic landscapes and public values. They provide a broad array of public benefits that include clean water, wood products, sustenance and outdoor experiences.
As a multi-use land management agency, our decisions are made considering interrelated issues of ecology, the economy, laws and culture. The goal is to make the best decisions at the local level so that forests stay healthy and can meet today’s needs and continue providing benefits long into the future.
What’s new
On Aug. 27, 2025, Secretary Rollins issued a press release about the publication of the notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement to evaluate the effects of the proposed rulemaking. The notice is published in the Aug. 29, 2025, Federal Register issue.
This rulemaking concerns the management of inventoried roadless areas on nearly 45 million acres of national forests and grasslands currently under the 2001 Roadless Rule. The environmental impact statement will evaluate the effects of the proposed rescission and study alternatives for roadless area conservation on national forests and grasslands in the context of multiple use resource management.
We welcome written comments beginning Aug. 29, 2025, on alternatives or effects and on relevant information, studies, or analyses with respect to the proposal. Written comments must be received no later than Sept. 19, 2025. Refer to the notice of intent for more details about this action.
To comment, use one of the following methods:
Electronically (preferred): Go to the notice posted on Regulations.gov. After reading the notice, click on the Comment button.
Mail: Hardcopy letters must be submitted to the Director, Ecosystem Management Coordination, 201 14th Street SW, Mailstop 1108, Washington, DC 20250-1124.
Lands currently under the 2001 Roadless Rule
The 2001 Roadless Rule established prohibitions on road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting in nearly 60 million acres inventoried roadless areas, with limited exceptions. Today, the 2001 Roadless Rule applies to nearly 45 million acres of National Forest System lands, including in Alaska.
The 2020 Alaska Roadless Rule, which exempted the Tongass National Forest in Alaska from roadless protections, was repealed on Jan. 27, 2023, returning the inventoried roadless areas of the forest to management under the 2001 Roadless Rule. For more information see the project documents.
The 2001 Roadless Rule no longer applies to more than 9 million acres in Idaho and more than 4 million acres in Colorado. Those state-specific roadless rules supersede 2001 rule.
Current Maps
2001 Roadless Rule Geographic Information System data
Map Service for Inventoried Roadless Areas designated by the 2001 Roadless Rule.
Map Service for Inventoried Roadless Areas designated by the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, 2008 Idaho Roadless Rule, and 2012 Colorado Roadless Rule.
Metadata
Metadata for National Forest System Inventoried Roadless Areas boundary coverage for the lower 48 in HTML format.
Metadata for National Forest System boundary coverage for the lower 48 in HTML Format.
Metadata for National Forest System boundary coverage for Alaska in HTML Format.
Metadata for the Outer National Forest System Administrative boundary coverage for Alaska in HTML Format.
Export Files
Inventoried Roadless Area data in XML format. Updated 10/03/2023.
Zipped Shapefile containing Inventoried Roadless Area data. Updated 10/03/2023.
Zipped Arc/INFO export file (ZIP, 456 KB) containing Outer National Forest System Administrative Boundary data for Alaska.
Zipped Arc/INFO export file (ZIP, 16 MB) containing National Forest System Boundary data for the Alaska.
Zipped Arc/INFO export file (ZIP, 15 MB) containing National Forest System Boundary data for the lower 48 states