New Mexico congressional delegation push for an exemption to Roadless Rule rollback

New Mexico’s all-Democratic congressional delegation is asking for a ban on building new roads in roadless areas of national forests to stay in place, at least for the Land of Enchantment.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is considering repealing the Roadless Rule, which prohibits building new roads, rebuilding others or harvesting timber in more than 44 million acres of federally owned forests. There are 1.6 million acres of inventoried roadless areas across more than 9.3 million acres of national forest lands in New Mexico.

The agency finished accepting public comment on the potential rule change last week. More than 600,000 comments were submitted. A draft of the proposed rule change is expected to be released by March, according to a Federal Register notice. More public comments will be accepted on that draft, and a final rule is expected to be released in late 2026.

The Trump administration is committed to eliminating one-size-fits-all regulations that “stifle economic growth in rural America,” Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a statement when the public comment period first opened.

“We strongly believe that the Roadless Rule has had an overall positive impact on New Mexico, from protecting communities from wildfire, promoting a healthy environment, and supporting the outdoor recreation economy,” reads the letter to Rollins signed by New Mexico’s senators and three House representatives.

They ask for the rule to at least be preserved within the state, even if it is rescinded nationwide. Roadless areas support the $3.2 billion outdoor recreation economy, the letter says.

In New Mexico, there is some partisan disagreement on whether repealing the rule would aid wildfire prevention or exacerbate wildfire risk.

Republican Party of New Mexico Chair Amy Barela agrees with the Democratic congresspeople that most wildfire ignitions are human-caused and studies show ignition density is heavily concentrated near roads, but she thinks those facts highlight “the need for proper forest access and management.”

“President (Donald) Trump’s proposal is a commonsense approach that allows local forest officials the flexibility to conduct responsible thinning, controlled burns, and other fuels-reduction projects,” Barela said in a statement last week.

Meanwhile, the delegation writes that the goal of deploying fire suppression resources more quickly “must be compared against the reality that more fires will ignite when roads are added.”

The congressional delegation is not the only group trying to keep the Roadless Rule in place.

Conservation advocacy groups have also vocally opposed the rule change, as have a number of outdoor recreation business owners and former Forest Service chiefs.

“Roadless area conservation is a down payment on the well-being of future generations,” former Forest Service Chief Mike Dombeck said in a statement. He led the Forest Service when the Roadless Rule was being developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s.