Defend the Roadless Rule! Take Action Now to Save America's Roadless Forests!
Act Today—go to roadless.org and submit your comments to defend the Roadless Rule before the window closes on September 19th. Defend Alabama's wild places!
On August 29, 2025, the USDA published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to begin an Environmental Impact State (EIS) and formal rulemaking process to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (the Roadless Rule), the critical protection that has kept 44.7 million acres of America's undeveloped national forests road-free and off-limits to logging and road construction.
On August 29, 2025, the USDA published a Notice of Intent (NOI) to begin an Environmental Impact State (EIS) and formal rulemaking process to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (the Roadless Rule), the critical protection that has kept 44.7 million acres of America's undeveloped national forests road-free and off-limits to logging and road construction.
Why it Matters
- Scope of protection: The original Roadless Rule safeguards approximately 58 million acres of roadless national forest land in 39 states, providing crucial protection from logging and road-building. There are 13,000 acres in the State of Alabama.
- Roadless areas nationwide safeguard 354 municipal watersheds, providing drinking water for 60 million Americans. Fact Sheet
- Wildfire data show fires are four times more likely to start near roads—protecting Alabama’s roadless areas reduces risk to surrounding communities.
- National outdoor recreation generates $730 billion annually and supports 6.5 million jobs. In Alabama, protected wild places bring tourism, strengthen local economies, and ensure our public lands remain open to all—not just industry.
- Scope of protection: The original Roadless Rule safeguards approximately 58 million acres of roadless national forest land in 39 states, providing crucial protection from logging and road-building. There are 13,000 acres in the State of Alabama.
- Roadless areas nationwide safeguard 354 municipal watersheds, providing drinking water for 60 million Americans. Fact Sheet
- Wildfire data show fires are four times more likely to start near roads—protecting Alabama’s roadless areas reduces risk to surrounding communities.
- National outdoor recreation generates $730 billion annually and supports 6.5 million jobs. In Alabama, protected wild places bring tourism, strengthen local economies, and ensure our public lands remain open to all—not just industry.
What the New Notice of Intent Says
- It proposes to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule on 44.7 million acres, including in Alabama, sidelining the protective blanket of the national rule Federal Register Public Inspection.
- The USDA will prepare the EIS, analyze alternatives (including a “no-action” option to keep the Rule in place), and open a new window for public comments to influence the process.
-YOUR VOICE will determine whether these wild lands remain protected or are opened to roads and development.
Use this moment to demand continued federal protection of our roadless forests before the comment period closes on September 19th—don’t wait.
TAKE ACTION NOW
-Submit your comments to the U.S.Department of Agriculture stating why it is crucial to save our roadless forests. The public is invited to comment on the potential effects of the proposal to guide the development of the environmental impact. TIME TO COMMENT IS LIMITED. The public comment period ends September 19, 2025 at 11:59 P.M.
TO BE COUNTED, COMMENTS MUST BE ORIGINAL. You can go to roadless.org/, and follow the prompts. This site simplifies the process of creating unique messages that personalize your own connection and story sharing why Alabama forests matter to you, in your own words.
-Spread the Word Encourage your friends, family, and networks in Alabama to comment too. Every voice counts.
- It proposes to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule on 44.7 million acres, including in Alabama, sidelining the protective blanket of the national rule Federal Register Public Inspection.
- The USDA will prepare the EIS, analyze alternatives (including a “no-action” option to keep the Rule in place), and open a new window for public comments to influence the process.
-YOUR VOICE will determine whether these wild lands remain protected or are opened to roads and development.
Use this moment to demand continued federal protection of our roadless forests before the comment period closes on September 19th—don’t wait.
TAKE ACTION NOW
-Submit your comments to the U.S.Department of Agriculture stating why it is crucial to save our roadless forests. The public is invited to comment on the potential effects of the proposal to guide the development of the environmental impact. TIME TO COMMENT IS LIMITED. The public comment period ends September 19, 2025 at 11:59 P.M.
TO BE COUNTED, COMMENTS MUST BE ORIGINAL. You can go to roadless.org/, and follow the prompts. This site simplifies the process of creating unique messages that personalize your own connection and story sharing why Alabama forests matter to you, in your own words.
-Spread the Word Encourage your friends, family, and networks in Alabama to comment too. Every voice counts.
August 01, 2025
Our National Forests are at risk due to the gutting of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by the Trump administration. Interim final rule rescinding regulations in response to Trump’s Executive Order 14154, Unleashing American Energy.
The comment period for opposing the latest attack on our public lands is August 4, 2025 by 11:59 P.M. Please comment and oppose the removal of NEPA regulations!
Submit your comments at regulations.gov (https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/USDA-2025-0008-0001) by Monday, August 04 to oppose changes in public lands policy that will eliminate public comment on land management, early warning about dangerous policies and actions, and severely weaken environmental and Endangered Species protections.
Our National Forests are at risk due to the gutting of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) by the Trump administration. Interim final rule rescinding regulations in response to Trump’s Executive Order 14154, Unleashing American Energy.
The comment period for opposing the latest attack on our public lands is August 4, 2025 by 11:59 P.M. Please comment and oppose the removal of NEPA regulations!
Submit your comments at regulations.gov (https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/USDA-2025-0008-0001) by Monday, August 04 to oppose changes in public lands policy that will eliminate public comment on land management, early warning about dangerous policies and actions, and severely weaken environmental and Endangered Species protections.
On July 3, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, along with a host of federal agencies, made sweeping changes to agency-specific National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) regulations. NEPA requires federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of their proposed actions prior to making decisions. The changes took immediate effect, so the NEPA process that organizations and public lands stakeholders have relied on for
decades is now gone.
There have been a lot of changes and attacks on NEPA in the past months. Here is some context for this latest chapter. In the past, Forest Service decision making has been subject to two sets of regulations—the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)regulations, which applied to all agencies, and the U.S. Forest Service’s own regulations. Late last year, the D.C. Circuit ruled that CEQ doesn’t have the power to issue binding regulations. The Trump administration promptly seized on this ruling as a justification to rescind the full suite of CEQ regulations. However, the U.S. Forest Service’s own NEPA regulations stayed in effect. Since those regulations were stronger than CEQ’s to begin with, groups working with the U.S. Forest Service were not immediately affected by these changes.
Now, the U.S. Forest Service’s regulations have been rescinded too. They have been replaced by a new set of regulations that apply to the entire Department of Agriculture, which are much weaker. Through these new regulations, the U.S. Forest Service has cut out its early warning system, called the Schedule of Proposed Actions (SOPA), which we rely on to learn about harmful projects; it has eliminated early opportunities for public participation under the scoping process, minimized the public’s opportunity to comment on refined and near final proposals, and gutted the agency’s obligations to substantively consider the environmental effects of its actions in the first place, including by drastically expanding the amount and availability of categorical exclusions. A categorical exclusion (CE) is a class of actions that a Federal agency has determined, after review by CEQ, do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and for which, therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement is normally required.
Although projects already in progress are likely to continue moving forward under the old rules, new projects are no longer bound by them. In practice, this means that we can no longer expect the agency to inform the public about harmful projects before they happen. We also can no longer rely on the public comment process to persuade the agency to improve its projects. These regulations are both a blatant attack on public processes, agency transparency, and environmental integrity.
decades is now gone.
There have been a lot of changes and attacks on NEPA in the past months. Here is some context for this latest chapter. In the past, Forest Service decision making has been subject to two sets of regulations—the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ)regulations, which applied to all agencies, and the U.S. Forest Service’s own regulations. Late last year, the D.C. Circuit ruled that CEQ doesn’t have the power to issue binding regulations. The Trump administration promptly seized on this ruling as a justification to rescind the full suite of CEQ regulations. However, the U.S. Forest Service’s own NEPA regulations stayed in effect. Since those regulations were stronger than CEQ’s to begin with, groups working with the U.S. Forest Service were not immediately affected by these changes.
Now, the U.S. Forest Service’s regulations have been rescinded too. They have been replaced by a new set of regulations that apply to the entire Department of Agriculture, which are much weaker. Through these new regulations, the U.S. Forest Service has cut out its early warning system, called the Schedule of Proposed Actions (SOPA), which we rely on to learn about harmful projects; it has eliminated early opportunities for public participation under the scoping process, minimized the public’s opportunity to comment on refined and near final proposals, and gutted the agency’s obligations to substantively consider the environmental effects of its actions in the first place, including by drastically expanding the amount and availability of categorical exclusions. A categorical exclusion (CE) is a class of actions that a Federal agency has determined, after review by CEQ, do not individually or cumulatively have a significant effect on the human environment and for which, therefore, neither an environmental assessment nor an environmental impact statement is normally required.
Although projects already in progress are likely to continue moving forward under the old rules, new projects are no longer bound by them. In practice, this means that we can no longer expect the agency to inform the public about harmful projects before they happen. We also can no longer rely on the public comment process to persuade the agency to improve its projects. These regulations are both a blatant attack on public processes, agency transparency, and environmental integrity.
Tips For Submitting Effective Comments:
- Read and understand the regulatory document you are commenting on
- Feel free to reach out to the agency with questions
- Be concise but support your claims
- Base your justification on sound reasoning, scientific evidence, and/or how you will be impacted
- Address trade-offs and opposing views in your comment
- There is no minimum or maximum length for an effective comment
- The comment process is not a vote – one well-supported comment is often more influential than a thousand form letters
May 28. 2025
The amendment by the House Natural Resources Committee for the sale and transfer of 460,000+ acres of federal public land in Nevada and Utah as part of the federal budget bill was removed before the bill was passed (by one vote) by the House and sent to the Senate. That does not mean that the sale of OUR public lands won't come up again.
Tell your Senators NO SALE OR TRANSFER of our public lands! Ask them to oppose any legislation, including the deceptively named Fix Our Forests Act, that would sell off, weaken protections, or increase logging or mining on any of our federal lands. Scroll down for a sample letter.
The amendment by the House Natural Resources Committee for the sale and transfer of 460,000+ acres of federal public land in Nevada and Utah as part of the federal budget bill was removed before the bill was passed (by one vote) by the House and sent to the Senate. That does not mean that the sale of OUR public lands won't come up again.
Tell your Senators NO SALE OR TRANSFER of our public lands! Ask them to oppose any legislation, including the deceptively named Fix Our Forests Act, that would sell off, weaken protections, or increase logging or mining on any of our federal lands. Scroll down for a sample letter.
May 02, 2025
Protect Alabama’s National Forests – Take Action NOW!
Dear Friends,
Our forests need your voice--right now.
The U.S. Senate is considering the Fix Our Forests Act, a bill that threatens the health and protection of Alabama’s National Forests, including the Bankhead National Forest, the Talladega National Forest, the Tuskegee National Forest and the Conecuh National Forest. This bill would weaken environmental safeguards, limit public input, and fast-track logging and extraction on public lands across the country--including right here in Alabama.
Senators Tuberville and Britt need to hear from YOU.
Share this alert with everyone you know in all states so they can contact their Senators.
📞Call or ✉️ Email Today
It's quick and impactful—just say who you are, where you live, and ask them to vote NO on the Fix Our Forests Act.
Senator Tommy Tuberville
Washington, D.C.: (202) 224-4124
Mobile Office: (251) 308-7233
Email Senator Tuberville
Senator Katie Britt
Washington, D.C.: (202) 224-5744
Birmingham: (205) 731-1384
Tuscaloosa: (659) 251-2880
Mobile: (251) 662-9990
Montgomery: (334) 777-1150
Huntsville: (256) 429-3450
Dothan: (334) 500-4097
Email Senator Britt
ALL US Senators
Link to Contact all US Senators
📧Sample Email You Can Copy and Send
Subject: Please Oppose the Fix Our Forests Act
Dear Senator Tuberville / Senator Britt,
I’m writing as your constituent to urge you to oppose the Fix Our Forests Act. This bill threatens Alabama’s national forests by weakening environmental protections, limiting public input, and allowing harmful clearcutting and extraction without adequate oversight.
Our forests and wilderness areas are vital for biodiversity, clean water, outdoor recreation, and the natural beauty of our state. Please vote NO on the Fix Our Forests Act and stand up for Alabama’s public lands.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your City, AL]
Protect Alabama’s National Forests – Take Action NOW!
Dear Friends,
Our forests need your voice--right now.
The U.S. Senate is considering the Fix Our Forests Act, a bill that threatens the health and protection of Alabama’s National Forests, including the Bankhead National Forest, the Talladega National Forest, the Tuskegee National Forest and the Conecuh National Forest. This bill would weaken environmental safeguards, limit public input, and fast-track logging and extraction on public lands across the country--including right here in Alabama.
Senators Tuberville and Britt need to hear from YOU.
Share this alert with everyone you know in all states so they can contact their Senators.
📞Call or ✉️ Email Today
It's quick and impactful—just say who you are, where you live, and ask them to vote NO on the Fix Our Forests Act.
Senator Tommy Tuberville
Washington, D.C.: (202) 224-4124
Mobile Office: (251) 308-7233
Email Senator Tuberville
Senator Katie Britt
Washington, D.C.: (202) 224-5744
Birmingham: (205) 731-1384
Tuscaloosa: (659) 251-2880
Mobile: (251) 662-9990
Montgomery: (334) 777-1150
Huntsville: (256) 429-3450
Dothan: (334) 500-4097
Email Senator Britt
ALL US Senators
Link to Contact all US Senators
📧Sample Email You Can Copy and Send
Subject: Please Oppose the Fix Our Forests Act
Dear Senator Tuberville / Senator Britt,
I’m writing as your constituent to urge you to oppose the Fix Our Forests Act. This bill threatens Alabama’s national forests by weakening environmental protections, limiting public input, and allowing harmful clearcutting and extraction without adequate oversight.
Our forests and wilderness areas are vital for biodiversity, clean water, outdoor recreation, and the natural beauty of our state. Please vote NO on the Fix Our Forests Act and stand up for Alabama’s public lands.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your City, AL]
April 18, 2025
From the Board of Directors of Wild Alabama, a nonprofit corporation, to all concerned about our National Forests in Alabama:
We write to express our concerns about a development impacting our national forests. Recently, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate called the “Fix Our Forests Act.” It builds on a House version that was passed in January.
An aim of the bill is to change forest management plans ostensibly to address the risks of wildfires in the Western United States. While wildfire mitigation efforts are important, the Fix Our Forests Act stands to have a negative far-reaching effect that could eliminate important safeguards that protect our forests here in Alabama.
Specifically, the legislation seeks to expedite forest management projects by streamlining environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and limiting certain legal challenges. In other words, the bill would eliminate opportunities for our citizen voices to be part of the conversation about how our public lands are managed and could lead to increased logging without adequate scientific review or community input, potentially harming ecosystems and endangered species. That is critically important in Alabama where the richness of our biodiversity ranks us among the top four states in the country.
The important safeguards the Fix Our Forests Act stands to eliminate are also the very means by which our national forests in Alabama came to be the beautiful treasures they are today with their three designated wilderness areas: Sipsey, Cheaha and Dugger. All National Forests in Alabama are currently managed under a plan focused on conservation and recreation that was created under the process established by the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews and community input through public comment. Wild Alabama participated directly in that process and our citizen volunteers were instrumental in helping to change the former forest management plan from one of timber production to the restoration plan we all benefit from today.
The Fix Our Forests Act stands to dramatically undermine years of conservation efforts by opening millions of acres of federal land across the country to logging without scientific review and community input.
Wild Alabama advocates for maintaining existing safeguards and increasing protection of our public lands. Please join us in asking our elected officials to protect our national forests and vote against any bill that diminishes the protections and safeguards we have fought for many years to enforce.
You can contact our U.S. Senators and House of Representative Members at these numbers. All you need to say is who you are, where you are from, and how you want them to vote:
Senator Tommy Tuberville
(202) 224-4124 (Washington D.C.) (251) 308-7233 (Mobile, AL)
Senator Katy Boyd Britt
(202) 224-5744 (Washington, D.C.) (205) 731-1384 (Birmingham) (659) 251-2880 (Tuscaloosa)
(251) 662-9990 (Mobile)
(334) 777-1150 (Montgomery) (256) 429-3450 (Huntsville)
(334) 500-4097 (Dothan)
Representative Barry Moore (District 1) (202)225-2901
Shomari Figures (District 2) (202) 225-4931
Mike Rogers (District 3) (202) 225-3261
Robert Aderholt (District 4) (202) 225-4876
Dale Strong (District 5) (202) 225-4801
Gary Palmer (District 6) (202) 225-4921
Terri Sewell (District 7) (202) 225-2665
Thank you for your help in protecting our forests and wild places in Alabama!
Sincerely,
The Board of Directors of Wild Alabama, a nonprofit corporation.
From the Board of Directors of Wild Alabama, a nonprofit corporation, to all concerned about our National Forests in Alabama:
We write to express our concerns about a development impacting our national forests. Recently, a bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate called the “Fix Our Forests Act.” It builds on a House version that was passed in January.
An aim of the bill is to change forest management plans ostensibly to address the risks of wildfires in the Western United States. While wildfire mitigation efforts are important, the Fix Our Forests Act stands to have a negative far-reaching effect that could eliminate important safeguards that protect our forests here in Alabama.
Specifically, the legislation seeks to expedite forest management projects by streamlining environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and limiting certain legal challenges. In other words, the bill would eliminate opportunities for our citizen voices to be part of the conversation about how our public lands are managed and could lead to increased logging without adequate scientific review or community input, potentially harming ecosystems and endangered species. That is critically important in Alabama where the richness of our biodiversity ranks us among the top four states in the country.
The important safeguards the Fix Our Forests Act stands to eliminate are also the very means by which our national forests in Alabama came to be the beautiful treasures they are today with their three designated wilderness areas: Sipsey, Cheaha and Dugger. All National Forests in Alabama are currently managed under a plan focused on conservation and recreation that was created under the process established by the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews and community input through public comment. Wild Alabama participated directly in that process and our citizen volunteers were instrumental in helping to change the former forest management plan from one of timber production to the restoration plan we all benefit from today.
The Fix Our Forests Act stands to dramatically undermine years of conservation efforts by opening millions of acres of federal land across the country to logging without scientific review and community input.
Wild Alabama advocates for maintaining existing safeguards and increasing protection of our public lands. Please join us in asking our elected officials to protect our national forests and vote against any bill that diminishes the protections and safeguards we have fought for many years to enforce.
You can contact our U.S. Senators and House of Representative Members at these numbers. All you need to say is who you are, where you are from, and how you want them to vote:
Senator Tommy Tuberville
(202) 224-4124 (Washington D.C.) (251) 308-7233 (Mobile, AL)
Senator Katy Boyd Britt
(202) 224-5744 (Washington, D.C.) (205) 731-1384 (Birmingham) (659) 251-2880 (Tuscaloosa)
(251) 662-9990 (Mobile)
(334) 777-1150 (Montgomery) (256) 429-3450 (Huntsville)
(334) 500-4097 (Dothan)
Representative Barry Moore (District 1) (202)225-2901
Shomari Figures (District 2) (202) 225-4931
Mike Rogers (District 3) (202) 225-3261
Robert Aderholt (District 4) (202) 225-4876
Dale Strong (District 5) (202) 225-4801
Gary Palmer (District 6) (202) 225-4921
Terri Sewell (District 7) (202) 225-2665
Thank you for your help in protecting our forests and wild places in Alabama!
Sincerely,
The Board of Directors of Wild Alabama, a nonprofit corporation.
National Forests are federal lands under the direction of the Department of Agriculture. They are managed by the United States Forest Service. Since our organization’s beginning as the Bankhead Monitor back in 1991, through our time as Wild Alabama, then Wild South, and now once again Wild Alabama, we remain rooted in Forest Watch. Our work of forest protection began with Forest Watch as a means of protecting our last wild places.
We continue to monitor Forest Service activities to assure that the terms of the 2004 Forest Revision Plan for National Forests in Alabama are upheld and that Forest Service management practices are compatible with restoration principles. Our goal is healthy, intact eco-systems on our public lands. This is accomplished through our active participation as a member of the Bankhead Liaison Panel, through ground-truthing timber sales, writing comment letters on proposed Forest Service policy, management practices and projects, and responding to concerns expressed by forest visitors.
We continue to monitor Forest Service activities to assure that the terms of the 2004 Forest Revision Plan for National Forests in Alabama are upheld and that Forest Service management practices are compatible with restoration principles. Our goal is healthy, intact eco-systems on our public lands. This is accomplished through our active participation as a member of the Bankhead Liaison Panel, through ground-truthing timber sales, writing comment letters on proposed Forest Service policy, management practices and projects, and responding to concerns expressed by forest visitors.
Forest Watch Report January 2024 - December 2024
Forest Watch Report January 2023 - December 2023
Forest Watch Report January 2022 - December 2022
Forest Watch Report January 2021 - December 2o21
- Attended Bankhead Liaison Panel meetings
Forest Watch Report January 2023 - December 2023
- Attended all 2023 Bankhead Liaison Panel meetings
- ANPR:MOG (May meeting w groups in NC; Aug 2023 ANPR:MOG comment letter and signed onto SELC's comment letter)
- Oct. 2023 letter to FS Supervisor re NEPA for Hemlock treatment
- Nov. 2023 Coosa Riverkeeper/proposed Quarry at Oxford near TNF (site visit, ADEM meeting, letter to ADEM)
- Responded to concerns about SPB cut on Dry Hollow Road
Forest Watch Report January 2022 - December 2022
- Bad burn in Talladega National Forest
- Aquatic Passage Project on Brushy Creek in Bankhead
- Dec 2022 comment letter re proposed Forest Orders in BNF and TNF
- Attended all Bankhead Liaison Panel meetings
Forest Watch Report January 2021 - December 2o21
- Consulted with Bankhead District Ranger Andy Scott about the sedimentation load in Sipsey Fork and its tributaries in the Bankhead National Forest and how how the poor condition of the forest roads may be contributing. Wild Alabama composed a letter to Forest Supervisor Cherie Hamilton in Montgomery regarding the poorly maintained roads and how they are likely contributing to the sedimentation problem.
- Engaged in meetings and site visits in the Bankhead National Forest about the proposed swap of national forest land for private land on Sipsey Fork. Wild Alabama submitted a comment letter and remains attentive to the process.
- Ground-truthed marked sites in the Flint Creek timber sale, Bankhead National Forest.
- Met with Ranger Andy Scott, silviculturist Jason Harris, scientists from the Southern Research Station and educators from the surrounding communities to plan for an upcoming project that will involve students in collecting acorns and planting a 20 acre site on Balls Mountain that was formerly a loblolly pine plantation.
- Submitted a comment letter regarding the proposed Aquatic Organism Passage Project on Bankhead and Talladega National Forests.
- Signed on to a letter to Congress from Southern Environmental Law Center supporting legislation that will make the Roadless Rule permanent.
- Participated in three planning meetings for a community science project in partnership with the Bankhead District of the Forest Service that will involve high school and college students in the monitoring of Eastern hemlock sites in the Bankhead National Forest for the purpose of the early detection of Hemlock Wooly adelgid.