Press Release

August 19, 2026

Roadless Rule Rollback Threatens Remaining Midwest Wildlands

“These areas deserve continued protection—not reckless development”

The Trump administration this week proposed a repeal of the 2001 Roadless Area Conversation Rule, threatening to strip protections from nearly 45 million acres of wildlands within our national forests, which would leave them vulnerable to logging, road construction, and other industrial activities.

The administration, which has made timber production a major priority, has also argued that increased road-building and logging would help prevent wildfires. In fact, rescinding the Roadless Rule would do the opposite. In 2001, the Forest Service acknowledged that new roads actually increase wildfire risks by bringing more people and ignition sources into fragile ecosystems. Meanwhile, taxpayers would shoulder the burden: expanding road networks would worsen the Forest Service’s already deep maintenance backlog and force downstream communities to pay more for water treatment as forests lose their natural ability to filter pollutants.

Sean Helle, Senior Attorney at ELPC, said:

 “The Trump Administration’s proposed repeal of the Roadless Rule is reckless and indefensible. For more than two decades, the rule has protected much of the wildness that remains in our national forests.  The protections have been particularly vital in the Midwest, where less than 200,000 acres of roadless land survived the widespread logging of the past two centuries.”

“The remaining wildlands in our region provide critical habitat for wildlife, clean our drinking water, store carbon, and offer refuge for people seeking quiet and beauty. These areas deserve continued protection—not reckless development. ELPC intends to fight back and oppose the administration’s misguided effort to repeal the Roadless Rule.”

Roadless Areas in the Midwest’s National Forests:

• The Bay Creek, Burden Falls, Burke Branch, Clear Springs, Eagle Creek, and Ripple Hollow roadless areas in Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest (10,666 acres)
• The Mogan Ridge roadless area in Indiana’s Hoosier National Forest (8,435 acres)
• The Delirium, Fibre, Government Island, and Round Island roadless areas in Michigan’s Hiawatha National Forest (7,846 acres)
• The Bear Swamp roadless area in Michigan’s Huron-Manistee National Forest (3,915 acres)
• The Norwich Plains roadless area in Michigan’s Ottawa National Forest (4,360 acres)
• The Big Island, Elmwood Island, and Potato Island roadless areas in Minnesota’s Chippewa National Forest (77 acres)
• The Baker–Homer–Brule Lakes, Baldpate Lake, Brule Lake–Eagle Mountain, Cabin Creek, Hegman Lakes, Kawishiwi Lake to Sawbill, Little Indian Sioux, Mississippi Creek, Moose Portage, Phantom Lake, South Kawishiwi River, Tait Lake, and Wood Lake roadless areas in Minnesota’s Superior National Forest (61,726 acres)
• The Beaver Park roadless area in South Dakota’s Black Hills National Forest (5,009 acres)
• And the Chase Creek, East Torch, Flynn Lake, Foursection, Gates Lake, Le Roy Creek, Moose, Pentoga Road, Perch Lake, Round Lake, Shelp Lake, Shoe Lake Islands, Peters Dome, Tea Lake, Thornapple, and Wheeler Lake Islands roadless areas in Wisconsin’s Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest (68,981 acres)