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Action Needed: Protect the Roadless Rule

Dear Rockbridge Conservation Community:

This is a call to action to help us defend the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, as well as forests across the United States that are essential sources of clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities including hiking and camping, swimming and boating, hunting and fishing, and much more. 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), parent agency of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), has just released its plans to strip millions of acres of wild forests of their protections. The Trump Administration has proposed repealing the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a set of federal regulations which have been in place since 2001. For 25 years, this “Roadless Rule” has protected 45 million acres of forests nationally, largely shielding them from activities like road-building and logging. In Virginia, the George Washington & Jefferson National Forests contain nearly 40 inventoried roadless areas, encompassing almost 400,000 acres—the most of any national forest system east of the Mississippi River. Here are maps of the roadless areas at risk:

In addition to being essential habitat for Virginia’s wildlife, the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests are desired destinations that help support the Commonwealth’s $13.4 billion outdoor recreation industry, which accounts for 1.9% of the state’s GDP and supports more than 120,000 jobs (according to federal data). As well, and critically, nearly half the land in Virginia’s national forests is in watersheds that provide drinking water directly to more than a quarter million Virginia residents. This number expands dramatically, into the millions of residents, if we consider those living downstream of our mountain watersheds. In Virginia, these drinking water sources are often found in their most pristine condition in George Washington and Jefferson National Forests’ roadless areas.

The Trump Administration’s proposal to repeal the Roadless Rule will put all of these values and uses of our national forests at risk. We are asking Rockbridge Conservation members, partners, and friends to take action in support of the Roadless Rule, including submitting comments as part of the regulatory rulemaking process that USDA/USFS has initiated to repeal the rule. Unfortunately, we’re in a rush, as the government has provided only a brief window of opportunity to register public comments about the proposed repeal: the deadline to submit all comments is October 6, 2026 (previously September 21, 2026). Last year, when the Trump Administration first announced its intent to repeal the Roadless Rule, more than 225,000 comments were submitted reflecting the views of more than 600,000 individuals (many of whom signed group or shared letters). Now, Rockbridge Conservation is part of a coalition of nonprofit conservation organizations working to recruit more than ONE MILLION individuals to submit comments before October 6, 2026 – because this is the last chance we will get before the Roadless Rule is repealed. 

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP!

Learn about the Roadless Rule and the Trump Administration’s threatened repeal 

Quickly and easily sign and send a pre-written letter to USDA/USFS supporting the Roadless Rule and registering your opposition to its repeal

  • One of our partner organizations, Environment America, has set up this website that will quickly take you through the steps to sign on to an existing comment letter that will be submitted to USDA/USFS and to your congressional representatives: https://saveroadlessforests.com/ 

Submit directly to the USDA/USFS your own letter (that you write) supporting the Roadless Rule and opposing its repeal 

  • To do this, follow these steps:
    • Go to this webpage, which is the official government page for the proposed regulatory change necessary to repeal the Roadless Rule: https://www.regulations.gov/document/FS-2025-0001-223869 
    • Click on the blue “Comment” box in the upper left, under the title.
    • Once you click on the blue “Comment” box, you will be brought to a page on which you can type in a comment or upload a comment written in MS Word or another word processing program. Follow the instructions on this page to submit your comment.
      • NOTE: you will have to share your email address in order to submit a comment, but it will be kept private. HOWEVER, the text of all submitted comments are a matter of public record and are made available to the public after they are submitted. Therefore, you SHOULD NOT put your contact or other identifying information in the text of your submitted comment. 
    • If you would like to view comments submitted by others, go back to the official government page above and click on the “Document Comments” tab. This is where your comment will show up after you submit it.

Ask our senators and Member of Congress to fight for passage of the Roadless Area Conservation Act (RACA), which would turn the Roadless Rule into a federal law

Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper of choice, supporting the Roadless Rule and opposing its repeal

  • To submit a letter to the editor of the News-Gazette, send it here: editor@thenews-gazette.com 
  • To submit a letter to the editor of the Rockbridge Advocate, send it here: rbadvocate@embarqmail.com 
  • Letters to other papers (Roanoke Times, Staunton News-Leader, Harrisonburg Daily News-Record, Richmond Times-Dispatch, or any others) are strongly encouraged!

If you have any questions, please email Rich Wallace at rich.wallace@rockbridgeconservation.org 

Roadless Areas of the Upper James River Basin

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