FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Allison, mark@nmwild.org, 505-239-0906
New Mexico Wild Condemns Roadless Rule Rollback
SANTA FE, NM (July 1, 2025) – While thousands of New Mexicans demonstrated unprecedented support for public lands during the Western Governors’ Association meeting in Santa Fe last month, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced the Trump administration’s plan to roll back the 2001 Roadless Rule, opening nearly 58 million acres of pristine forestland to logging, development, and new roads.
The rollback threatens 1.9 million acres of roadless areas in New Mexico that provide world-class hunting, fishing, hiking, and backcountry recreation, including sections of the Continental Divide Trail. These areas also protect critical wildlife habitat, clean drinking water sources, and cultural resources.
“This is unnecessary and short-sighted,” said Executive Director Mark Allison. “The Forest Service already manages more roads than any agency in the world. These roadless areas are wild remnants that, once lost, will be gone forever. It underscores why permanent Wilderness protections are so critical.”
The proposal follows other administrative actions dramatically increasing logging and drilling on federal lands, worsening climate change and threatening recreation areas.
New Mexico Wild calls on the state’s congressional delegation to oppose this rollback and co-sponsor the Roadless Area Conservation Act to permanently protect these areas.
The Roadless Area Conservation Act, recently reintroduced by Senators Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.) and Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and Representatives Andrea Salinas (D-OR) and Yassamin Ansari (D-AZ), would codify roadless protections into federal law, making them much harder to overturn.
Take Action: Call your Representative and Senators to condemn the roadless rollback and support the Roadless Area Conservation Act.
- House & Senate U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
