The Past, Present and Future of The Roadless Rule

In this special episode, The Wild Idea brings its recent public webinar directly to podcast listeners. Join a high-powered panel of scientists, attorneys, policy veterans, and conservation advocates to examine one of the most consequential federal land protection policies in American history: the 2001 Roadless Rule. The rule has shielded 58.5 million acres of largely intact national forest land from new road construction and most commercial timber harvest for more than two decades, and it now faces a proposed rescission by the current administration.The conversation opens with Mike Dombeck, the former Forest Service chief who oversaw the rule’s development, tracing the road system’s explosive post-World War II growth and the maintenance crisis that made the moratorium on new road construction both necessary and politically viable. From there, the panel moves through the science of wildfire ignitions near roads, the rule’s flexibility for forest health treatments, the economic value of roadless areas to outdoor recreation, and the water supply those landscapes provide to more than 60 million Americans. Monte Mills and Martin Nie bring legal and policy depth to questions of tribal consultation, indigenous land rights, and the gaps that rescission would leave in existing forest plans. Vera Smith of Defenders of Wildlife walks listeners through two interactive mapping tools that illustrate which threatened and endangered species depend on roadless forests, region by region.The episode closes with the full panel reflecting on what, if anything, could be improved in the rule, and how everyday people can make their voices heard before the draft environmental impact statement is finalized. The answer that emerges, again and again, is that the public support which gave this rule its unusual durability remains the most powerful tool available to those who want to see it preserved.Learn more about today's episode and the resources mentioned at our website, thewildidea.com.