Why Idaho’s Roadless Rule provides a model other states should adopt

By Bryan Clark
Idaho Statesman
August 25, 2026
Category: Forestry
Region: US West

Last week, the Trump administration announced it was moving forward with efforts to rescind the national Roadless Rule, which has governed roadless areas of U.S. Forest Service land for a quarter-century. But Idaho won’t be affected. That’s because of an effort, launched two decades ago during the brief governorship of now-Sen. Jim Risch, to secure a specific statewide roadless rule. Colorado is the only other state with its own rule. Idaho’s rule will remain in place, even if the Trump administration succeeds in reversing the national rule — a tragic outcome that places at risk some of the best remaining patches of wild habitat for fish and game, and risks increasing the number of wildfires, which are mostly caused by humans, mostly near roads. Idaho’s rule could provide a viable model for future protection of roadless areas in an era when federal land management decisions are likely to whipsaw with every presidential election for the foreseeable future.

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