This summer I read Ben Goldfarb’s insightful book, “Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet.” One of the most profound takeaways of this book for me, was a clear explanation of how roads are often the gateway for other environmental destruction.
Crossings underscored the value of policies such as the Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Roadless Rule), enacted in 2001, which designated forests across the country as “inventoried roadless areas,” prohibiting the building of — you guessed it, new roads — but also logging and other harmful industries on these lands.
This U.S. Forest Service regulation was put in place to preserve parts of our National Forest network, and ensure these places of ecological and recreational value remain open, accessible and mostly unchanged by human activity. For nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has protected 58.5 million acres of national forest spanning 39 states. New Hampshire’s White Mountain National Forest is the nearest national forest with designated roadless areas.
Unfortunately, soon these cherished places could be permanently altered. In June 2025, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to rescind the Roadless Rule, opening the door to road-building and industrial development across 45 million acres of previously protected forest. If the rollback succeeds, much of what makes these places special could be lost forever.
What makes roadless rule forests special?
Those of us lucky enough to spend time in a wild forest know that something is different there. Roadless forests don’t just offer breathtaking scenery, or a cool place to hike — they are the foundation of a deeply complex and interconnected ecosystem.
Rare and elusive species including wolverines, Canada lynx, grizzly bears, cougars, wolves, all depend on these large, undisturbed habitats to survive. The thick underbrush provides hunting cover for predators, dense canopies shelter birds and their nests, lichen and shrubs feed elk and deer, shaded streams flow undisturbed by sediment for native fish like trout and salmon. The lack of roads keeps habitats unfragmented and preserves ancient migration routes.
Roadless areas in forests shelter more than 220 species that are threatened, endangered or proposed for Endangered Species Act protection.
In addition to their vital ecological importance, these wild forests offer recreation opportunities, from hiking and cycling, to camping and hunting, to paddling and fishing.
And even if you have never set foot in a roadless area, you still benefit from the services these wild places provide. Forests in roadless areas help keep rivers and streams clean. They cleanse the air we breathe and help form our atmosphere. And perhaps best of all, as public lands, these forests belong to each and every one of us. They are, as former Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck put it, a “down payment on the well-being of future generations.”
What we stand to lose
Rescinding the Roadless Rule could unleash destruction on a truly tragic scale. Just imagine what we stand to lose. A grove of towering firs felled for timber. The chorus of warblers, robins and owls that lived among its branches silenced. A wolf den trampled beneath machinery. A chipmunk hole clogged with sawdust. Clear streams, once teeming with trout, turtles and frogs, turned murky with sediment. What was once a home to countless animals, what once sheltered vast biodiversity, what once stood tall and proud for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, reduced to a clearcut. Across 45 million acres and 37 states. And once it’s lost, the wild character of these forests would take decades to fully restore.
This issue isn’t about partisanship or politics. It’s about keeping what’s wild … wild. And ensuring that future generations see what we were lucky enough to witness: silent, beautiful wilderness.
The Roadless Rule isn’t just a policy. It’s also a promise. A promise that some places are too wild, too precious, too important to cut down. A promise that some silences should be left unbroken.
So, the choice before us is: Will we preserve these special places, not just for our children, but for all life that will one day call America home? Or we will carve through, tear down, rip up and scar these places, our legacy, beyond recognition?
If you would like to add your voice to the hundreds of thousands of Americans from all walks of life, now is the time to speak up. To take action in defense of millions of acres of wild forest and the Roadless Rule that preserves them, you can take action here: https://environmentamerica.org/take-action/tell-your-senator-defend-wild-forests/.
And if you haven’t read Crossings, check it out from your local library. You’ll never see a road quite the same way again.
Johanna Neumann of Amherst has spent the past two decades working to protect our air, water and open spaces, defend consumers in the marketplace and advance a more sustainable economy and democratic society. She can be reached at columnists@gazettenet.com.