Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins just announced that the U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposed rule to “rescind in its entirety” the national 2001 Roadless Area Conversation Rule.

CRS President David Jenkins criticized the move, saying: “This is one of the most boneheaded and fiscally irresponsible actions this administration could take. The agency doesn’t have the budget to take care of the 368,000 miles of roads already riddling our national forests. In fact, there is currently a $10.8 billion maintenance backlog.”

Jenkins also challenged Rollin’s claim that the Roadless Rule “exacerbates” wildfire risks, adding: “The truth is that roadless forests are our greatest defense against wildfire. Not only are old growth forests naturally resistant to fire, but 90% of all wildfires in the U.S. occur within a half mile of a road. Any claims to the contrary are demonstrably false.“

“We need to call this out for what it is, one giant taxpayer funded subsidy for commercial logging operations that are otherwise uneconomical. This will only worsen our national debt and end up fleecing American taxpayers out the wazoo.” Jenkins said. “It is swamp politics at its very worse.”

Speaking about America’s great forests and mountains, Ronald Reagan once said, “This is our patrimony. This is what we leave to our children. And our great moral responsibility is to leave it to them either as we found it or better than we found it.”

Reagan understood that the responsible stewardship of our natural wealth and fiscal health were core tenets of conservatism. Secretary Rollins would do well to remember that and abandon her ill-conceived effort to roll back the Roadless Rule and eliminate common-sense forest protections that benefit us all.

Conservatives for Responsible Stewardship (CRS)

CRS is a national nonprofit grassroots organization founded on the premise that environmental stewardship and natural resource conservation are inherently conservative, and that true conservatives endeavor to be good stewards of the natural systems and resources that sustain life on earth.

Learn more about CRS at the organization’s website: https://www.conservativestewards.org

David Jenkins

A lifelong traditionalist conservative, David has worked for CRS, or its predecessor organization Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), since 2005. He served as Vice President for Government & Political Affairs for REP until taking the helm of CRS in 2012.

In addition to leading CRS and being instrumental in numerous policy accomplishments, David has written and spoken extensively about many of today’s most pressing environmental issues, conservatism, our nation’s conservation heritage and American politics. He is a frequent voice on news talk radio and his writing has appeared in countless newspapers and other publications.

David has an extensive background in public policy and politics. Prior to CRS, he served as Vice President of Government and Political Affairs at Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP), as Director of Public Policy for the American Canoe Association, and as a legislative aid for Senator Pete Dominici. He has also worked on numerous political campaigns, including those of John McCain, Bob Dole, and Ronald Reagan. He holds a B.A. in Political Science from Furman University.

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Here’s a roundup of media coverage generated from this CRS press release:

August 21, 2026 — Roadless Rule rollback will be a fiscal nightmare — The Western News

August 21, 2026 — Roadless Rule rollback will be a fiscal nightmare — Hagadone News Network

August 21, 2026 — A simple concept Hurd should be able to get behind — The Daily Sentinel

August 18, 2026 — Trump administration moves ahead to end roadless rule on national forests — Anchorage Daily News

August 18, 2026 — Trump administration moves ahead to end roadless rule on national forests — WDBO-FM/AM (Orlando, FL)

August 18, 2026 — Trump Administration Moves Ahead to End Roadless Rule on National Forests — US News & World Report

August 18, 2026 — Trump administration moves ahead to end roadless rule on national forests — News 6 Orlando

August 18, 2026 — Forest Service to End Protection for 45 Million Acres of Forest — EOS 

August 18, 2026 — Trump moves ahead to end roadless rule on national forest; Idaho not affected by change — The Lewiston Tribune

August 18, 2026 — Trump Administration Moves Ahead To End Roadless Rule On National Forests — ETV Bharat

August 18, 2026 — Trump administration moves ahead to end roadless rule on national forests — Boston Herald