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*Greater Yellowstone Coalition Director of Conservation Kathy Rinaldi hunting in Idaho’s backcountry. (Photo Kathy Rinaldi)*

There’s no shortage of coverage about the elimination of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, also known simply as the Roadless Rule. It seems like every conservation organization, eco-conscious business, and outdoorsy social media personality is posting about it on the regular. There seems to be one simple takeaway: the majority of Americans want to see the Roadless Rule protect wild forest lands for generations to come.

When the Roadless Rule was adopted in 2001, it followed one of the most robust public engagement processes in U.S. history. Over nearly four years, the federal government hosted more than 600 public meetings across the country and received a record-setting 1.6 million public comments—an overwhelming majority 90 percent of which were in support of protecting roadless forests.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which houses the U.S. Forest Service, announced its plan to eliminate the Roadless Rule in mid-August 2025. The rollback of the Roadless Rule jeopardizes nearly 10 million acres of undeveloped backcountry forestland in Montana and Wyoming and nearly 45 million acres across the United States. These forests have remained intact because of the U.S. Forest Service's nearly 25-year commitment to protect these wild places from industrial development like large-scale commercial logging, oil-and-gas drilling, and associated road building.

Now, all of that could be undone with a very short window for public input.

Throughout this process, there have been many claims about what removing the Roadless Rule will and will not do. Luckily, we have GYC's Director of Conservation Kathy Rinaldi joining the podcast today to help us determine fact from fiction. Let’s hop into the episode and do some solid Roadless Rule myth-busting!

The Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is the land of 49+ Indigenous Tribes who maintain current and ancestral connections to the lands, waters, wildlife, plants, and more.

Voices of Greater Yellowstone was created by the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, a conservation nonprofit dedicated to working with people to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, now and for future generations.

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Podcast Artwork > Rachel Dunlap Art

Music > Redwood Trail by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)

Thumbnail Photo > Kevin League