The Mountaineers
For nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has protected the natural resources and backcountry recreational opportunities provided by the National Forest System from road construction, logging, and other development. With this foundational conservation measure now under threat, the mantra “defend the Roadless Rule” is rallying Mountaineers and stakeholders across Washington’s outdoor community to take action in high numbers to protect old-growth forests and backcountry experiences.
Over the last several months, we shared about the administration’s intent to roll back the Roadless Rule and how Roadless Area’s support Mountaineers programs, and spoke up together to defend 45 million acres of national forests - including two million acres in Washington. Now that the public comment opportunity has closed, let’s take a quick look back on our collective advocacy.
We’re grateful for the more 1,300 members of our community that submitted public comment in support of Roadless protections. Our community’s grassroots letters had a high degree of personalization, which makes them even more effective. Personalized letters highlighted particular outdoor activities, specific public lands and outdoor communities that benefit from Roadless Areas, and personal connection to Washington’s backcountry forests. We appreciate how deeply Mountaineers members, leaders, and advocates understand how the Roadless Rule protects natural landscapes and the outdoor experiences they provide.
In addition to submitting individual comments captured through our advocacy action to the Forest Service, we also provided an organizational comment letter. In our letter, we shared how Roadless Areas are especially important for Mountaineers programs - relying on the unique qualities of unroaded backcountry forests. Nearly all Mountaineers activities depend on Roadless Areas and other protected landscapes to provide the experiences that our members seek: refuge from the developed human experience, solitude, and natural characteristics that enhance our outdoor adventures. We also articulated many of the values Roadless Areas provide, including climate mitigation, importance to Indigenous cultural rights and lifeways, wildlife habitat, and clean drinking water.
The Roadless Rule isn’t perfect, but it strikes a balance between conservation, recreation, and fire risk mitigation. Rather than jumping directly to a sweeping repeal, we believe the Forest Service should do a thorough analysis of targeted changes to hone the balance among those priorities. We highlighted the importance of analyzing a third alternative that includes adjustments that fine tune the Rule’s implementation in fire-prone communities.
The effort to rescind the Roadless Rule is part of a larger push to weaken protections for public lands and increase resource extraction. We expect to see a draft environmental impact statement - the next step in the rulemaking process - at some point this winter. Due to efforts by the administration to undermine the National Environmental Policy Act, it’s not clear when our next public comment opportunity will be.
As we wait to learn more about what the rescission of the Rule could look like, you can help build support for permanent protections for Roadless Areas by elevating the Roadless Area Conservation Act with your members of Congress. Use our action tool to share your support for backcountry recreation and Roadless protections with your lawmakers, thanking representatives for supporting the bill or requesting that they cosponsor the legislation.
Thank you for advocating with us to protect Baker Lake, Washington Pass, Mount Townsend, and all of the places we love to experience on Washington’s Roadless Areas.
