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By Joe Edwards
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A new study says federal roadless-area protections help support drinking water supplies for at least 25 million Americans, adding a new public-health dimension to the Trump administration’s push to rescind the long-running forest rule.
What Is the Roadless Rule?
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule was adopted by the U.S. Forest Service in 2001 to restrict most road construction, road reconstruction and timber harvesting in inventoried roadless areas of the National Forest System.
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The University of Washington and Conservation Science Partners study says those areas cover roughly 60 million acres of National Forest System lands and were created to help sustain soil, water, biodiversity and recreational values
Because the protections were created administratively rather than by Congress, the study notes they can be changed by later administrations.
Why Researchers Say Drinking Water Could Be Affected
The study, published July 15 in PLOS Water, found that inventoried roadless areas protect over 80,000 miles of streams and rivers in the contiguous U.S.
Researchers estimated that these areas are the primary protection mechanism for more than about 62,000 miles of rivers when other conservation and regulatory safeguards are taken into account.
The authors also estimated that watersheds influenced by roadless areas supply public drinking water to at least 25 million people, including 21.3 million people in downstream watersheds within 100 river miles of a roadless-area boundary.
“Our results demonstrate that rescinding the Roadless Rule would diminish protections for rivers, and may compromise drinking water quality and affordability, reduce recreational opportunities, and threaten freshwater biodiversity,” the authors wrote. “Safeguarding Roadless Rule protections is therefore essential for sustaining ecosystem services, supporting human well-being, and advancing broader conservation and resilience goals under increasing climatic and land-use pressures.”
Lead author Julian Olden, a University of Washington professor of aquatic and fishery science, said in a UW release that “the roadless rule supports the drinking water supply for 25 million Americans” and protects wildlife habitat and recreation assets.
“In short, rivers in roadless areas are essential for both people and nature,” Olden said.
The study highlighted several states where roadless-area-influenced watersheds account for large numbers or shares of public water customers, including California, Colorado and New Mexico.
"The study makes clear how far-reaching the damage would be from stripping protection from national forest roadless areas,” Randi Spivak, public lands policy director with the Center for Biological Diversity, told Newsweek. "These roadless areas protect the watersheds that supply drinking water to at least 25 million Americans—from Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles to communities across West Virginia, North Carolina and Vermont.
“Bulldozing roads through these forests to log them will pollute drinking water and increase fire risk. The Trump administration routinely chooses private profit over public health and ignores the scientific facts to do so. It's well past time for Congress to permanently protect our remaining roadless national forests.”
Leda Huta, vice president of government relations at American Rivers, said in a statement provided to Newsweek: “At a time when water scarcity is a major threat, it is immensely disappointing that reversing course on these landmark protections is even on the table. Losing the Roadless Rule would be a major loss for all of us downstream who depend on these public lands.”
What the Trump Administration Is Proposing
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced on June 23, 2025, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) intended to rescind the 2001 rule, saying the change would remove limits on road construction, reconstruction and timber harvest on nearly 59 million acres.
USDA said the rule was “overly restrictive” and argued that ending it would give local forest managers more flexibility for wildfire prevention, forest management and timber production.
The Forest Service’s roadless-area page says the rescission effort concerns nearly 45 million acres still managed under the 2001 rule, and that Idaho and Colorado’s state-specific roadless rules would not be affected.
“The study gets one thing right: every acre of national forest land is vital to protecting America’s headwaters and delivering clean drinking water to millions of people," a USDA spokesperson told Newsweek. "But its conclusions miss a fundamental point. The proposed rescission doesn’t authorize a single tree to be cut or a single road to be built. Any future actions would continue to follow the forests plans, comply with federal laws, and include environmental review.”
The spokesperson defended the move by saying the Roadless Rule has imposed a “one-size-fits-all” approach that restricts local forest managers. The department argued that restoring decision-making to local officials would give communities more flexibility to reduce wildfire risk, protect watersheds and manage roadless lands.
“The rule meant to safeguard drinking water has left more than 3,800 municipal watersheds at risk, with burned areas producing up to 450 percent more sediment in reservoirs than managed forests. That sediment directly threatens water security and imposes massive costs on rural communities already struggling to manage post‑fire impacts,” they said. “This is about removing a rigid barrier so our experts can do what’s necessary to keep forests and headwaters healthy.”
What Happens Next
The Forest Service says a notice of intent was published in the Federal Register on August 29, 2025, and that the first-stage public comment period closed in September.
The USDA spokesperson told Newsweek the agency is preparing a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).
“When it is available, the public will have a designated comment period to respond,” they said.
Contact Newsweek editors for this story: Alf Joyner and Anthony Murray.
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