Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman James Walkinshaw (VA-11) and Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan led 6 Members of the Virginia delegation — including U.S. Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Representatives Bobby Scott (VA-03), Don Beyer (VA-08), Eugene Vindman (VA-07), and Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10) — in sending a letter to Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins in strong opposition to the Trump Administration’s proposal to rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule (the “Roadless Rule”).

Since its implementation in 2001, the Roadless Rule has protected 45 million acres of forest lands across the country, including nearly 394,000 acres in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Forest Service filed a proposal in August of this year to repeal the Roadless Rule, which could have devastating impacts on water quality, biodiversity, economic development and more for these regions.

“This proposal would strip protections from approximately 84% of Virginia’s roadless areas, opening these lands to road construction, logging, and other industrial activities. The consequences for Virginia’s environment, economy, and public health would be severe, falling squarely on the families and communities we represent,” wrote the lawmakers. “With more roadless acres than any other state east of the Mississippi River, Virginia has an outsized stake in decisions regarding the Roadless Rule. Once lost, these ecosystems and the countless benefits they provide to clean air, clean water, and climate resilience cannot be easily restored, if at all.”

The letter outlines the risks this rescission would pose to Virginia by jeopardizing Virginia’s drinking water and ecosystems, threatening economic activity driven by recreation and tourism activities, increasing wildfire risk and straining public resources.

“For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has demonstrated that protecting America’s national forest lands is both effective and widely supported. Rescinding the Roadless Rule would ignore this overwhelming public consensus while undermining Virginia’s drinking water, biodiversity, local economies, and public safety,” the lawmakers concluded. “We urge the Department to withdraw this dangerous proposal and maintain the Roadless Area Conservation Rule of 2001 in its entirety.”

Read the full letter text here.