The U.S. Forest Service is proposing to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule , which prohibits the construction and maintenance of roads in inventoried roadless areas. As a whole, the Roadless Rule protects approximately 58.5 million acres of land across the country, including Iron and Hardesty mountains in the Willamette National Forest.

Environmental advocates say repealing the law would mark a major step back in conservation efforts in the U.S. “More roads means more fragmentation of wildlife habitat, more erosion into streams, more spread of invasive weeds,” says Chandra LeGue, senior conservation advocate for environmental nonprofit Oregon Wild .

Inventoried roadless areas are designated by the USFS and are federally protected. In Oregon, there are almost two million

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