Backcountry Conversations - Ep. 2: Debunking the Case to Rescind the Roadless Rule with TU's Chris Wood

Twenty-five years ago, the Forest Service made one of the most consequential land management decisions in its history: protecting nearly 60 million acres of national forest from new roads and logging. That protection — the Roadless Rule — is now on the chopping block, with the USDA formally proposing to rescind it and a public comment period open through September 21. In this episode, we sit down with Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited, who helped write the rule from inside the Forest Service back in 2001 and has spent the decades since defending it.

Chris breaks down the real economic, ecological, and cultural reasons the rule exists in the first place — from a $8.5 billion road maintenance backlog to jaw-dropping habitat numbers (75% of Idaho's Chinook and steelhead habitat, for example, sits in roadless country) — and then dismantles the arguments being used to justify tearing it down, including the Forest Service's own data showing roadless areas actually see more wildfire fuel treatment, not less. It's a clear-eyed, fact-first breakdown of what's really at stake for hunters and anglers, and a case for why showing up with data — not just outrage — is how this fight gets won.

Comment on the Roadless Rule before September 21!

Trout Unlimited's Roadless Report

Chris Wood Roadless podcast with Hal Herring