09/02/2026
Roadless areas are on the chopping block — again. The Forest Service released its plan to fully repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule, opening 44 million acres of undeveloped national forest to new roads and industrial logging.
For packrafters, roadless areas are priceless. They're the put-ins you hike into, the headwaters that stay clean, the stretches where you don't hear a chainsaw or see a clearcut from the water. 768 miles of whitewater fall inside the areas this proposal would open up, and would mean fewer remote areas, higher fire risk, and loss of wild character in Roadless areas.
The agency says this is about fighting wildfire. The research doesn't back that up: 88% of U.S. wildfires are human-caused, and the Forest Service explicitly acknowledges that building roads into protected areas will increase the risk of human-ignited wildfires. More roads isn't a fire fix. The current rule already allows fuels reduction and forest health work where it's needed.
📝 The comment window closes Sept 21 — take two minutes and make your voice heard. We're pointing you to Outdoor Alliance's comment tool, built specifically for this DEIS: action.outdooralliance.org/a/roadless-deis-usfs
A few things you can say in your own words:
📍 Don't rescind the Roadless Rule — keep these lands protected.
📍 Roadless areas protect the headwaters and free-flowing rivers packrafters depend on.
📍 The wildfire justification doesn't hold up — roads increase fire risk, they don't reduce it.
📍 Once these areas are roaded and logged, we don't get them back.
Use your voice to help keep these places wild — for paddlers, for wildlife, and for the next generation of packrafters.
Photos by Tim Kelley
