The outdoor community has been waiting for the anticipated U.S. Department of Agriculture Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) proposing to fully rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule—a longstanding policy that protects millions of acres of national forest land from new road construction. If finalized, the proposal would remove these protections from approximately 45 million acres of national forests across the country, including more than 323,000 acres in the Wasatch alone.
For backcountry skiers in Utah, these protections matter. Some of our favorite zones benefit from the Roadless Rule protections, including White Pine, Cardiff, Days, Silver Fork, Mineral, north-facing terrain off Raymond and Gobblers, nearly all of upper Big Cottonwood Canyon from Reynolds to the Monitors, Mt. Aire, and Lambs Canyon.
And that’s just the Central Wasatch. Huge swaths of the Uintas, La Sals, American Fork, Timpanogos Foothills, Cascade, Provo Peak, and Ogden Valley are also Roadless Rule areas.
Explore the Areas at Risk
Save Our Canyons mapped the Roadless Rule areas throughout Utah and Outdoor Alliance mapped areas across the country, both using data from the U.S. Forest Service.
Utahns Support the Roadless Rule
Back in the spring, Utahns from all walks of life showed up to speak up for the Roadless Rule at a public hearing. Skiers, hikers, hunters, anglers, tribal members, religious leaders, mountain bikers, climbers, and other public lands users came together with a simple message: We support the Roadless Rule.
Did you know that The Roadless Rule was created after an enormous public process? When it was established in 2001, it followed extensive public input and received an unprecedented number of public comments in support of protecting roadless areas.
WBA was proud to participate in that effort by helping collect more than 100 postcards from Utahns and sending them to our lawmakers in Washington, D.C. We’ve been holding onto those postcards, waiting for the administration’s anticipated rescission proposal to be released. Now that the DEIS is here, it’s time to get those messages into the hands of our Utah lawmakers.
The Public Has Just 30 Days to Weigh In
The current DEIS comment period is expected to be one of the final opportunities for the public to weigh in before the administration moves toward a final decision. The comment period runs for just 30 days, ending September 20—an unusually short window for a proposal affecting 45 million acres of national forest land.
That makes your voice especially important.
Submit a comment to the USDA and to your lawmakers. Tell them why keeping roadless areas protected matters to you and why these landscapes should remain available for future generations. You don’t need to be a policy expert. Tell your own story. Your personal connection to these places is exactly what decision-makers need to hear.
Let’s make sure Utah’s backcountry community is heard—again. Keep our backcountry roadless!
Visit our colleagues at Outdoor Alliance to learn more about the national level impacts to outdoor recreation.
