Patagonia CEO Urges Public to Fight Trump Administration Move to Rescind Roadless Rule

Patagonia’s chief executive urged the public on Tuesday to oppose a Trump administration effort to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, saying the rollback would open more than 58 million acres of national forest to logging, mining and other development and harm wildlife, drinking water and outdoor recreation.

The administration announced in June its intent to remove the 2001 rule, which prohibits road building and timber harvesting in identified roadless areas of national forests. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees the Forest Service, has framed the action as a step to improve wildfire management and allow responsible forest treatment; Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert wrote in Time that those claims should not be taken at face value. The USDA’s comment period on the proposal runs through Sept. 19.

Gellert, writing in an opinion piece, described the Roadless Rule as one of the nation’s most consequential conservation policies since its adoption in 2001 and noted it was the most commented-on rule in U.S. history at the time, with roughly 95 percent of respondents supporting the protections. He said rescinding the rule would risk Indigenous ancestral lands, critical wildlife habitat and water quality, and would limit public access for hikers, anglers, hunters, climbers and other recreation users.

Patagonia and other outdoor-industry groups have argued that protections for roadless areas underpin a broader recreation economy. The industry accounts for some $1.2 trillion in economic output nationally. According to figures cited by Gellert, 158 million visits to national forests contributed about $13.7 billion to the economy and supported roughly 161,000 jobs. The op-ed also noted that more than 60 million Americans rely on drinking water from rivers and aquifers that originate in national forests.

Administration officials have said the Roadless Rule constrains land managers who need tools such as road construction to fight wildfires or to conduct restoration projects. Gellert and conservation groups counter that “fire prevention” rhetoric can be used to justify logging and other commercial activities that would reshape landscapes rather than restore them.

The Roadless Rule, enacted under the Clinton administration, restricts road building and timber harvesting in inventoried roadless areas in national forests. Conservation advocates contend those areas store large amounts of carbon and provide intact habitat for plants and animals. Gellert cited estimates that inventoried roadless areas sequester roughly 15 million tons of carbon per year in the American West, 43.4 million tons in the Interior West and nearly 4 million tons in the East.

Opponents warn that rescinding the rule could put nearly 50,000 miles of trails, about 800 miles of whitewater runs and more than 8,500 climbing routes at risk of being altered or lost. They point to forested lands adjacent to the Appalachian Trail, Lake Tahoe, the White Mountains, and parks including Rocky Mountain, Glacier, Olympic and Yellowstone as vulnerable to increased development. Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state was cited as an example where more than 60,000 acres could lose protection under the proposed change.

Patagonia is among more than 125 members of Brands for Public Lands, a coalition that has mobilized business and civic groups to oppose changes to national forest protections. Gellert said Indigenous tribes, nongovernmental organizations and some elected officials also oppose the rollback, and he urged citizens to submit comments during the USDA’s public-input period.

Environmental advocates have pointed to earlier Trump administration decisions as precedent. During the administration’s first term, the president substantially reduced the size of Utah’s Bears Ears National Monument; subsequent reporting and leaked internal communications suggested that Interior Department interest in oil and gas development influenced that decision. Gellert wrote that the decision to rescind the Roadless Rule would similarly benefit mining, timber and fossil-fuel interests at the expense of broader public benefits.

Forest Service officials have argued that state and local managers need greater flexibility to address disease, insect outbreaks and rising wildfire risk in the context of a warming climate. Scientists and conservationists note, however, that intact forests serve as significant carbon sinks and that large-scale logging can release stored carbon and alter ecosystem resilience.

Legal challenges and congressional responses are likely if the administration moves forward. Past changes to national monuments and conservation rules have prompted lawsuits and generated bipartisan opposition in some regions where outdoor recreation and tourism constitute major parts of local economies.

The USDA has invited public comment through Sept. 19; the agency will review submissions before finalizing any regulatory changes. Patagonia’s chief executive framed the public-comment window as an opportunity for citizens to weigh in on how national forests should be managed, saying the outcome will affect future generations’ access to public lands and the role those lands play in addressing the climate crisis.