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U.S. Forest Service’s roadless rule repeal threatens North Carolina’s old-growth trees
By Zachary Turner
October 5, 2026 at 5:30 PM EDT
Tuesday is the last day for the public to comment on the Trump administration's plans to repeal federal protections that would expose about 144,000 acres of protected forests to logging and development in North Carolina.
The 2001 Roadless Rule prohibits road-building and timber harvesting in certain federally protected forest areas. It was passed to protect drinking water, prevent the spread of invasive species and conserve biological diversity.
President Trump has prioritized expanding timber production in the United States and ordered the U.S. Forest Service to increase logging. Environmental advocates worry that repealing this rule would threaten the state’s dwindling old-growth forests. Approximately 18% of North Carolina National Forests exhibit old-growth characteristics, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That includes places like the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest near the Tennessee border.
Lake James Environmental Association President Joanne Deyo issued a resolution opposing the repeal, saying that it would “harm visitors to the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway who will have degraded scenic views due to commercial-scale logging, more frequent wildfires, and destruction of observable mature forests.”
“That harm will ripple through our western NC economies,” Deyo wrote.
Senior Attorney Sam Evans with the Southern Environmental Law Center says this would also damage the state’s outdoor economy.
“These are the reasons people are coming to western North Carolina to recreate,” Evans said, pointing to the state’s billion-dollar trout fishing economy as an example. WFAE recently covered the toll climate change has already taken on this state’s trout fisheries, forcing stocking delays in state-monitored waters.
If repealed, the U.S. Forest Service could develop and log around 144,000 acres of protected North Carolina forests, according to an SELC analysis. Evans said that building new roads risks polluting nearby waters.
“Millions of people in the state of North Carolina are downstream of these roadless areas,” Evans said.
The comment period ends at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. You can file a comment on the docket.
The 2001 Roadless Rule prohibits road-building and timber harvesting in certain federally protected forest areas. It was passed to protect drinking water, prevent the spread of invasive species and conserve biological diversity.
President Trump has prioritized expanding timber production in the United States and ordered the U.S. Forest Service to increase logging. Environmental advocates worry that repealing this rule would threaten the state’s dwindling old-growth forests. Approximately 18% of North Carolina National Forests exhibit old-growth characteristics, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That includes places like the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest near the Tennessee border.
Lake James Environmental Association President Joanne Deyo issued a resolution opposing the repeal, saying that it would “harm visitors to the iconic Blue Ridge Parkway who will have degraded scenic views due to commercial-scale logging, more frequent wildfires, and destruction of observable mature forests.”
“That harm will ripple through our western NC economies,” Deyo wrote.
Senior Attorney Sam Evans with the Southern Environmental Law Center says this would also damage the state’s outdoor economy.
“These are the reasons people are coming to western North Carolina to recreate,” Evans said, pointing to the state’s billion-dollar trout fishing economy as an example. WFAE recently covered the toll climate change has already taken on this state’s trout fisheries, forcing stocking delays in state-monitored waters.
If repealed, the U.S. Forest Service could develop and log around 144,000 acres of protected North Carolina forests, according to an SELC analysis. Evans said that building new roads risks polluting nearby waters.
“Millions of people in the state of North Carolina are downstream of these roadless areas,” Evans said.
The comment period ends at 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. You can file a comment on the docket.