Challenge:

America’s national forest roadless areas contain some of the best remaining fish and wildlife habitat in the country and provide sportsmen with high-quality hunting and fishing opportunities on public lands. While roads are important for providing access to lands where we recreate, they increase big-game vulnerability and often result in shorter seasons and fewer available tags. Too many roads also can decrease the quality of important spawning habitat for wild trout, salmon and steelhead.

Forty-nine million acres of national forest roadless areas in 37 states are managed under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Another 9.3 million acres are conserved under the Idaho roadless rule. Both rules conserve undeveloped public lands while providing reasonable management exceptions to protect communities from wildfire, restore habitat and ecosystems, and even develop oil and gas, as long as this development is done in ways that maintain the areas’ backcountry values.

Despite the success of the national and Idaho roadless rules, forces are at work to overturn these conservation milestones and open our best remaining backcountry habitat to intensive development – leaving an uncertain future for some of America’s best public-lands hunting and fishing.

Strategy:

The TRCP's approach is guided by the Roadless Initiative Working Group, whose work is founded in the TRCP roadless initiative principles. By working with individual sportsmen, local groups and businesses, Western governors and national decision makers, the TRCP is ensuring that sportsmen’s priorities are considered as the future management of our roadless areas is determined. Additionally, by combining the expertise of the working group with an active network of sportsmen and businesses, the TRCP is working to support backcountry conservation.

Action:

The TRCP is working tirelessly to conserve our best remaining public lands hunting and fishing areas, but we need your help. American sportsmen have the opportunity to stop efforts to undermine the conservation of our national forest roadless areas. By getting involved, you can help assure that our backcountry resources are managed in a way that benefits our traditions and sustains fish and wildlife populations.

Sign up as a TRCP Western Sportsman Advocate to make a difference!

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