Clinton Roadless Rule Protects 58 Million Acres of National Forests from Logging

In one of his final acts as president, Bill Clinton implements the “Roadless Rule,” prohibiting road construction, timber harvest, and most commercial development on nearly 58 million acres of pristine national forest land—more than a quarter of the entire National Forest System. The regulation represents one of the most far-reaching environmental initiatives of the Clinton presidency, protecting roadless areas that serve as watersheds, wildlife habitat, and recreational resources from logging, mining, and energy development.

The Roadless Rule became immediately controversial, with timber and mining industries arguing it locked up valuable natural resources and eliminated jobs in resource-dependent communities. Republican lawmakers and industry groups filed multiple lawsuits challenging the regulation. The rule was specifically designed to prevent the fragmentation of large roadless areas that remained relatively undisturbed within national forests, recognizing that road construction typically opens these areas to logging operations and other extractive activities that fundamentally alter their ecological character.

Subsequent administrations attempted to roll back the protections. The Bush administration issued directives making it easier for timber and mining industries to build new roads in national forests. The Trump administration in 2019 exempted Alaska’s Tongass National Forest from the Clinton-era restrictions, opening it to potential logging and energy and mining projects, and in 2025 the second Trump administration announced plans to end the Clinton-era ban entirely. The contested history of the Roadless Rule exemplifies the ongoing conflict between conservation and extractive industry interests over management of public lands.