The public comment period on the plan to rescind the Roadless Rule closed on Tuesday, October 6, and the response was enormous. The organizations working on the effort across the country, including the Sierra Club, report more than one million comments in all.
That count comes from the organizers, and the federal docket shows fewer, because many campaign comments were submitted in bundles. The Center for Western Priorities read about 370,000 of the comments posted to the docket and found that 99 percent opposed the repeal, according to Deseret News. Whichever way you count, it is a great many people saying the same thing: leave these forests alone.
If you wrote one, whether through our Action Center, a partner’s form, or because a neighbor nudged you, thank you.
Where Things Stand
The comment period was one step, not the last one. On August 18, the Forest Service released a proposed rule and a draft environmental impact statement, and the comments were the public’s chance to weigh in before the rescission is finalized. The agency now reviews what came in. We do not have a date for its final decision, and we will share it here as soon as there is one.
Why It Matters on This Coast
In our earlier post, Why We Need the Roadless Rule, we looked at what is at stake close to home. The Sierra Club’s Oregon chapter counts the roughly 13,000 acres around Mount Hebo in the Siuslaw National Forest as ground where the Roadless Rule is the only protection standing. Oregon Wild’s analysis puts about 91 percent of Oregon’s roadless forest inside municipal watersheds that supply drinking water to roughly 800,000 people.
What You Can Do Next
The comment window is closed, but two things in Congress will help decide whether roadless protection lasts, and neither has a deadline that has passed.
- Ask Representative Val Hoyle to co-sponsor the Roadless Area Conservation Act, H.R. 3930. Representative Andrea Salinas’ bill would write the Roadless Rule into law, so no future administration could undo it by rule alone. When we checked on September 12, it had 93 co-sponsors, including every other Oregon Democrat in Congress, and Representative Hoyle, whose district covers this stretch of coast, had not signed on.
- Tell your senators to strip the Mike Lee amendment out of S. 140, the Wildfire Prevention Act. The amendment would repeal the Roadless Rule permanently. As of September 12, the bill had been ordered reported out of committee on June 10, 2026, and was awaiting floor action.
Both take about five minutes. Our Write to Congress page has the steps, the forms, and a tip that makes a message count: pick a place you have hiked, fished, or camped, and name it. A note about a real trail carries more weight than a form letter.
The decision is still ahead of us, and more than a million people have already shown up for these forests. If you know someone who commented, or meant to, pass this along.
