Trump wants to open forests to more trucks, logging. Which CA lands are at risk?
President Donald Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture has moved to rescind the “roadless rule” that protects portions of national forests from development — including 4.4 million acres in California — and members of the public can still submit comments about the change to the federal government.
Every national forest in California would be affected. Commenters can weigh in through the online form on regulations.gov through Sept. 19; the docket is FS-2025-0001-0001.
Since 2001, the roadless rule has protected designated areas from development and logging, limiting or barring the construction or reconstruction of roads. About 21% of California’s national forestlands are protected. Throughout the U.S., the 2001 rule covers 59 million acres. The administration has said the move to end the rule would open up these forests to more logging and has said that more roads would help with wildfire prevention. As NPR reported, the U.S. Forest Service has previously found that roads appeared to do nothing to mitigate wildfires.
- 346,000 acres in Sequoia National Forest, including portions of the Giant Sequoia National Monument that’s home to some of the world’s last surviving giant sequoias
- 147,000 acres in the Tahoe National Forest, including areas along the North Fork American River
- 45,000 acres in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit, which also extends into Nevada. The roadless rule protects multiple areas in these federal lands, including areas just east of the Desolation Wilderness by Lake Tahoe
- 82,000 acres in the Eldorado National Forest, including areas around Kit Carson by Silver Lake and areas on the west side of the Desolation Wilderness
- 270,000 acres of the Klamath National Forest, including portions along the Klamath River
- 837,000 acres of the Inyo National Forest, which extends slightly into Nevada
- 324,000 acres of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, including areas bordering the Trinity Alps Wilderness
- 168,000 acres in the Lassen National Forest
The three forests with the largest areas protected by the rule are the Inyo National Forest, home to Mount Whitney; the Central Coast’s Los Padres National Forest — an important habitat for the endangered California condor — with 636,000 acres; and the Sequoia National Forest.
The Pacific Crest Trail Association said that the roadless rule also applies to 9% of the iconic Pacific Crest Trail, which stretches from the border with Mexico in Southern California all the way to Canada.
This story was originally published September 12, 2025 at 1:15 PM.
CORRECTION: The federal roadless rule does not apply to areas already designated as wilderness areas, which have a higher level of protection. An earlier version of this story incorrectly indicated that two roadless areas immediately adjacent to wilderness areas were official parts of those wilderness areas.
