{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-to-trump-administration-dont-repeal-critical-protection-for-last-remaining-wild-forests", "Cantwell to Trump Administration: Don\u2019t Repeal Critical Protection for Last Remaining Wild Forests", "2026-08-19", "2026", "2026-08", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Maria Cantwell", "C000127", "www.cantwell.senate.gov", "cantwell", "https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Cantwell to Trump Administration: Don\u2019t Repeal Critical Protection for Last Remaining Wild Forests\n\nFor over 25 years, the Roadless Rule has blocked logging and development in pristine national forest land, including over 2 million acres in WA; Data suggests wildfires are more likely to start near roads\n\nEDMONDS, WA \u2013 U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Finance Committee, called on the Trump administration to reverse course and abandon plans to repeal the U.S. Forest Service\u2019s Roadless Rule. For a quarter century, the Roadless Rule has shielded 58.5 million acres of the most pristine and treasured areas within the National Forest System from roadbuilding and logging, including over 2 million acres in Washington state.\n\nThis week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which oversees the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), opened public comment on its Roadless Rule repeal \u2013 a step towards eliminating vital safeguards for America\u2019s public lands.\n\n\u201cAt a moment when climate change is intensifying wildfire risks, this administration is moving to strip protections from some of America\u2019s last remaining wild forests,\u201d said Sen. Cantwell. \u201cRoadless areas safeguard clean-water sources, sustain critical wildlife habitat, and support outdoor recreation that communities across the country depend on. Congress should pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act to permanently preserve the benefits these public lands provide our nation and future generations.\u201d\n\nNew research published this year shows that wildfire ignitions are more likely near roads, and that new roads in formerly roadless areas could increase wildfire risks.\n\nSen. Cantwell has repeatedly introduced legislation to codify the Roadless Rule into law, including as early as 2001. Sen. Cantwell was also a vociferous and persistent critic of the Trump administration\u2019s elimination of roadless protections for the Tongass National Forest in Alaska.\n\nIn June 2026, Sen. Cantwell reminded her colleagues that keeping the Roadless Rule isn\u2019t just good conservation policy, but it\u2019s good fiscal policy, too.\n\nIn September 2025, Sen. Cantwell called on the USDA to delay its repeal of the Roadless Rule and consider additional input, leading a letter with 55 Democratic colleagues to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and USFS Chief Tom Schultz.\n\nIn June 2025, Sen. Cantwell announced a renewed push to enshrine the USFS\u2019s Roadless Rule protections into law. The Roadless Area Conservation Act would codify the 2001 Roadless Rule, which was developed by the USFS during the Clinton Administration and finalized after several years of deliberation and 600 public meetings in local communities nationwide.\n\nThe Roadless Rule enjoys strong public support, as evidenced by the overwhelming majority of 2.5 million comments submitted on the Roadless Forest Protection Rule \u2013 more than 95% \u2013 were in support of protecting roadless areas. A March 2019 poll by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that three out of four respondents said they supported keeping roadless forest protections, while only 16% opposed it. That level of support changed little between respondents living in rural or non-rural areas and across party affiliation and political views.\n\nFor more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has prevailed over numerous court challenges and administrative and legislative attacks. The first Trump administration weakened the rule, and in October 2020 the administration removed roadless protections for over 9 million acres of pristine forest lands in the Tongass National Forest, threatening old-growth forest and southeast Alaska\u2019s robust tourism and fishing economies. Under the Biden administration, the protections in the Tongass were restored but then removed again by the second Trump administration.\n\nIn April 2026, the Trump administration enacted a sweeping rollback of environmental protections across nearly 60% of U.S. national forests, including about 26 million acres of previously protected Roadless areas. This policy shift was formalized through an emergency directive by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, following a presidential executive order aimed at expediting logging projects by streamlining permitting, removing National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requirements, and exempting affected forests from administrative objection processes that previously allowed for challenges by environmental groups, tribes, and local government.", 1, "2026-08-21T05:30:57Z", "2026-08-21T05:32:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-to-trump-administration-dont-repeal-critical-protection-for-last-remaining-wild-forests"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.3065000530332327, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}