VIDEO: Heinrich, Wyden Host Press Conference on Republicans’ Latest Effort to Repeal the Roadless Rule, Remove Protections for Millions of Acres of Public Lands

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources (ENR) Committee, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), member of the U.S. Senate ENR Committee hosted a press conference on Republicans' latest effort to repeal the Roadless Rule, which protects nearly 45 million acres of public lands administered by the U.S. Forest Service. Heinrich and Wyden were joined by Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited, and an architect of the Roadless Rule.

Yesterday, Republicans attached a last-minute amendment to U.S. Senator John Barrasso's (R-Wyo.) previously bipartisan Wildfire Prevention Act to nullify the Roadless Rule. The amendment was approved on a party-line vote - 11-9 - sending the amended legislation to the full Senate.

VIDEO: U.S. Senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate ENR Committee, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), member of the U.S. Senate ENR Committee, host a press conference with Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited, on Republicans' latest effort to repeal the Roadless Rule, June 11, 2026.

"This is probably the most flexible conservation tool that we have. The most responsive to being able to do vegetative and wildfire management. The most responsive in terms of protecting habitat. And yet we see this desire to just turn over our public lands to industry. And I think it's deeply concerning," said Heinrich. "It should not be partisan. I think this is going to be one of the major conservation battles of this Congress. And I intend to be on the right side of history on this one."

"Republicans have made it clear they will stop at nothing in their crusade to destroy Americans' beloved public lands," said Wyden. "This isn't a red issue or a blue issue - no one is asking for the repeal of the roadless rule that protects 58 million acres of iconic national forests and outdoor spaces. Democrats are all in to ensure this Republican scheme is dead on arrival."

"If you hunt and fish, roadless areas are the most valuable landscapes we have in America. One statistic that absolutely blew me away when we were developing the roadless rule: These lands represent 2 percent of the American landscape, and 25 percent of all of our threatened and endangered species find habitat in them. And don't forget that these landscapes are high elevation landscapes, very low timber values, very expensive to get up into, often with very erosive soils," said Wood. "Records show that a lack of roads has not stopped fire prevention measures. Lack of roads in inventoried roadless areas has neither prevented fuel treatment nor led to substantially more fire. Today, 80 percent of all fires are started by people, and 80 percent of all fires are started within a half a mile of a road. The idea that we would overturn the roadless rule, it defies economic, ecological, and common sense."

VIDEO: Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited and an architect of the Roadless Rule, on Republicans' latest effort to repeal the Roadless Rule, June 11, 2026.

Last month, Heinrich joined a press conference opposing the Trump administration's efforts to rescind the Roadless Rule and urging New Mexicans to speak out in defense of public lands. Highlighting the overwhelming public support for these protections, Heinrich noted that "99 percent of public comments supported protecting these areas." Republicans on the Senate ENR Committee are comfortable ignoring those voices.

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