Aug. 24, 2026 Editor, The News-Gazette: The U.S. Department of Agriculture, parent agency of the U.S. Forest Service, has just released its plans to strip millions of acres of wild forests of their protections. The Trump administration has proposed repealing the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
For 25 years, this “Roadless Rule” has protected 45 million acres of forests nationally, largely shielding a small but vital segment of our national forests from activities like road-building and logging (which are welcome on other national forest holdings). In Virginia, the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest contain more than two dozen inventoried roadless areas, encompassing nearly 400,000 acres — the most of any national forest system east of the Mississippi River. These Virginia forests are essential sources of clean drinking water, wildlife habitat, and recreational opportunities including hiking and camping, hunting and fishing, and more.
Virginians love the George Washington and Jefferson National Forest, which are central to the commonwealth’s $13.4 billion outdoor recreation industry and (according to federal data) account for 1.9% of the state’s GDP and support more than 120,000 jobs. As well, and critically, nearly half the land in Virginia’s national forests is in watersheds that provide drinking water directly to more than a quarter million Virginia residents. This number expands dramatically, into the millions of residents, if we consider people living downstream of our mountain watersheds. In Virginia, these drinking water sources are often found in their most pristine condition in George Washington and Jefferson National Forest’ roadless areas.
The Trump Administration’s desire to repeal the Roadless Rule will put all this at risk, and they have provided only a brief window for the public to comment on the proposal, with a deadline of Sept. 21, 2026. To voice your support for the roadless rule and opposition to its repeal, visit saveroadlessforests. com. For much more information on this issue, visit roadless.org.
RICHARD WALLACE Lexington
