There is little doubt that USDA Secretary Rollins will ignore the 99.1% of the public comments submitted in opposition to rescission of the USFS Roadless Road. That formal action could come as early as January 2027. At that point, impacts upon the 32,000 acres of Roadless areas within the Lake James watershed will begin.
Instead of relying on the executive branch's administrative rulemaking process, some Congressional members have proposed bills that would incorporatethe 2001 Roadless Rule protections directly into federal statute. If passed, it would require an explicit act of Congress to lift the restrictions embedded in the Roadless Rule or to allow commercial-scale logging, mining, and similar activities on the currently designated areas.
The House bill (H.R.3930) has garnered 88 cosponsors and remains under review by the House Committees on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The Senate version (S.2042) was referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
In tandem with the legislation, a coalition of 164 members of Congress sent a joint letter directly to the Trump administration demanding a halt to the current rescission efforts. [1, 2, 3]
Please contact your Congressional representatives and urge them to cosponsor these bills and ensure that they receive a vote. The legacy of stewardship of the USFS, and all of our Federal land management agencies, is under attack and the Lake James watershed will be harmed if that attack is allowed to continue.
