Impacts of the proposed Roadless Rule repeal in Minnesota
September 11, 2026 10:59 amTwo important political developments affecting Minnesota’s canoe country occurred just hours apart last month.
First, Gov. Tim Walz signed an executive order putting the brakes on a plan by the South American mining company Antofagasta to mine copper-nickel in the Boundary Waters watershed. Then came a less-publicized (locally) announcement from the Trump administration: a proposal to repeal the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, including protections in the Superior National Forest.
In short, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which contains the Forest Service for historical reasons, wants to eliminate safeguards for almost 45 million acres of roadless national forest lands. Local managers could approve new roads – it’s not automatic – and potentially expand access for logging, mining, and oil and gas development.
The implications go well beyond road construction. The change could worsen an already staggering road-maintenance backlog, for example, and fragment wildlife habitat, degrade water quality, and increase pressure on wildlife and fish populations. In another example, Canada lynx depend on large, unbroken forest landscapes in their pursuit of snowshoe hares, land that would be divided by roads. Brook trout are highly sensitive to changes in water quality. More roads also mean more vehicles, and more vehicles hit more animals.
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Wildfire prevention is an argument in the debate. The administration contends that increased access will help reduce fire risk. Environmental groups point to recent research suggesting wildfire ignitions are generally less common in roadless areas than in landscapes with greater road access, while noting that existing rules already allow managers to remove trees and brush in roadless areas when needed to address fire concerns.
What would the proposal mean in northeastern Minnesota? I decided to dig into it. And I want to let you know that I am on the board of the nonprofit Sportsmen for the Boundary Waters, which, along with groups such as Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and Trout Unlimited, are working to keep public lands public for everyone.
Within the Superior National Forest, roadless areas total about 62,000 acres. That represents only about 3 percent of the national forest, which may sound insignificant until you consider that this year’s fires, which rightly commanded statewide and national attention, burned around 71,000 acres.
Roadless areas are shown in brown on this somewhat helpful Forest Service map.
In Minnesota, the affected roadless tracts are scattered across the landscape. By my count, and I may have missed one or two, as many as 13 are included. Among the largest is the Kawishiwi Lake-to-Sawbill roadless area north of Tofte, encompassing roughly 15,000 acres.
Some tracts are small and relatively remote. I would argue that all are economically unattractive. Much of the forest contains low-value timber, for example. Even where harvest opportunities exist, a practical question remains: Would the value of the timber justify the cost of building and maintaining roads?
The Chippewa National Forest, which has no roadless areas, is not affected, nor are lands within the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness itself – that would require an act of Congress. But much of its watershed could be. Ecologists have long viewed these roadless areas as buffer zones that help protect the wilderness habitat.
The Department of Agriculture’s role in managing national forests stems from an historical quirk. In 1905, trees were classified as a farm crop – just like corn, beans, rice, and wheat – moving oversight of federal forests from the Department of Interior. The heavily logged lands that would become the Superior National Forest joined the national forest system in 1909.
Self-interest is a hallmark of Trump administration officials, and the leader of the Roadless Rule repeal fits that pattern. The Guardian reported Tuesday that companies previously represented by Tom Schultz, the chief of the Forest Service, would benefit from the rule change. His jobs included lobbying for the timber industry and serving as an executive with an Idaho lumber company. Notably, he is the first Forest Service leader not to have previously worked at the agency. Schultz has been on record as opposing the Roadless Rule for more than 25 years.
At the recent annual conference of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, which I attended, Martha Williams, the Forest Service director under President Obama, said that all the bad ideas of the last 20 to 30 years “are coming to light again.” She said, “I feel like I’m watching the misfit toys.”
The public comment period has been extended and now closes October 6th. If the administration ultimately moves forward despite substantial opposition, litigation will certainly follow. Those wishing to weigh in should reference Docket FS-2025-0001.
Although the immediate impacts in canoe country may be less than in regions such as Alaska, the proposal reflects a broader effort by the Trump administration to loosen protections on public lands in favor of resource extraction and private industry. For hikers, anglers, hunters, campers, mountain bikers, and paddlers, the value of these places lies precisely in what they lack. Once a road reaches a wild landscape, that landscape is no longer quite as wild. The Boundary Waters and the forest around it remain special because, somewhere, the roads end.
That’s the point.
Editor’s note: SFBW board vice-chair Mark Neuzil writes a weekly Substack on what he calls “the small things in nature.” As a long-time BWCA tripper and a former guide, his essays often relate to canoe country. Subscribing can happen here, and it is free.
