Sep 10, 2025
The Trump administration just launched a 21-day sprint to eliminate protections for nearly 60 million acres of our nation's most pristine backcountry forests. This would hand over to corporations the lands that provide clean water for millions of Americans and serve as our last defense against climate chaos.
The America the Beautiful for All Coalition recently hosted a panel of experts to break down what's at stake and how we can fight back. Here are the key takeaways from that critical conversation.
First, what do we really protect when we protect our roadless forests?
For nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has been an underappreciated yet one of our most important conservation tools. The Roadless Rule is about more than just preventing roads; it's about preserving life-sustaining benefits. These pristine forests are the source of clean drinking water for millions of people in the United States. They are our most effective natural allies in the fight against climate change, absorbing and storing massive amounts of carbon. They provide essential habitat for wildlife and offer us invaluable spaces for recreation, solitude, and connection that are critical to our health and well-being.
This rule protects the fundamental values that our public lands offer to every single one of us. And the deadline to defend it is September 19, 2025. Please submit your comment today.
How would repealing the Roadless Rule impact one of our basic human rights: access to clean water?
Fossil fuel corporations and their political allies are launching targeted attacks to exploit our public lands for short-term gain. For communities on the ground, the stakes are incredibly high. The most immediate threat is to our water. When corporations build roads and clear-cut forests, erosion pollutes the streams and rivers that provide our drinking water.
This is a human rights issue. Logging companies know exactly which communities they're poisoning. As Dr. Camila Caseres highlights, corporations dump their pollution on everyone from the 20% of Puerto Ricans who get their water from the El Yunque National Forest to communities across the country—Indigenous peoples, hunters, and anglers—who rely on healthy ecosystems for their food, culture, and livelihoods.
Submit your comment by September 19, 2025, to defend human rights.
Is this repeal necessary to prevent wildfires?
Data shows that 90% of all wildfires start near roads, not in roadless areas. Yet the Trump administration uses wildfire prevention as cover for their corporate giveaway.
The truth? The 2001 Roadless Rule already contains exemptions that allow the Forest Service to conduct vegetation management and fight fires in these areas. Building more roads would actually make the wildfire crisis worse. The Forest Service already faces a nearly $5 billion backlog in road and bridge maintenance—money that should go to protecting communities, not subsidizing logging companies.
Don't let corporations and their political allies use wildfire lies to destroy our forests. Submit your comment by September 19.
How can our communities effectively fight back?
Our collective voice is our greatest strength, and we have clear strategies for making corporations and politicians hear us. The first step is direct engagement. As our panelists share, we need to meet with our elected officials at every level—local, state, and federal. When we team up with other organizations, we present a unified front and educate officials about what corporations threaten in their own backyards.
The second, most urgent step is to take part in the public comment period. This is our formal, legal opportunity to tell the Trump administration that we stand against corporate destruction of our roadless areas. Every single comment adds to the overwhelming record of public support for these protections. Take action today—submit your comment.
What You Can Do Right Now
We are in the middle of a public comment period. This is our chance to stop the Trump Administration from allowing corporations to destroy these wild places. Every comment builds the record the Administration must review.
The deadline is September 19, 2025. Take five minutes right now to add your voice.
Catch up on our entire webinar here:
When we protect our forests, we protect each other. When corporations destroy them, we all pay the price.
