America’s public lands support outdoor recreation, providing thousands of miles of trails loved by mountain bikers, hikers, equestrians, and runners, helping to support the United State’s $1.2 trillion dollar outdoor recreation economy. For nearly 40 years, IMBA has been on a mission to protect and enhance great places to ride, working with our federal land agency partners on public lands. Through trail advocacy, education, stewardship, and sustainable trail solutions, IMBA strives to ensure everyone has access to high-quality outdoor recreation opportunities. IMBA advocates for federal policy, like the 2001 Roadless Rule, that protects remaining wild areas, conserves their ecological values, and preserves them for public recreation.

On August 27, 2025, United States Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the first step in the rulemaking process for rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule, initiating a 3-week public comment period. IMBA analyzed the Notice of Intent to Prepare and Environmental Impact Statement, the first step in the rulemaking process to rescind the Roadless Rule, and submitted comments on behalf of mountain bikers and with Outdoor Alliance partners.

Read IMBA’s full comments to the U.S.D.A.

IMBA works  to engage our politically diverse audience in advocacy related issues to quickly change government policy and practice, including the implementation of the bipartisan EXPLORE and BOLT Acts, and the proposed reorganization of the United States Forest Service. IMBA submitted comments by the September 19 deadline, contributing to the outdoor community’s collective response to the rescinding of the Roadless Rule, focusing on proactive and actionable alternatives.

Summary of IMBA’s Comments

IMBA’s comments detailed the positive benefits of the Roadless Rule for mountain biking and outdoor recreation since its inception in 2001. IMBA’s comments stated that Roadless Areas, while less than a third of USFS lands, are some of the last large, undeveloped tracts of National Forest, and for nearly 25 years, the Roadless Rule has protected these places from unnecessary road construction and large-scale development. Roadless Areas strike a rare middle ground of balance: they safeguard clean water, wildlife, and intact landscapes while still allowing diverse backcountry adventures like mountain biking, hiking, and horseback riding and motorized recreation. IMBA emphasized that this middle ground is essential, since general forest lands (51%) are already open to industrial use and Wilderness (19%) prohibits mountain biking altogether. Roadless Areas make up the remaining 30% of our National Forests, keeping landscapes intact while remaining accessible for outdoor recreationists. Historically, Roadless protections have enjoyed broad support across the political spectrum among IMBAs members and the general public.

IMBA’s comments further noted that if the Roadless Rule is rolled back, piecemeal state-by-state decisions could fragment the landscapes and their protections and chip away at quality trail access. To prevent this, IMBA recommended strong national safeguards, including a “No Net Loss of Trails” policy, baseline trail inventories, limits on new road building, and more investment in local Forest Service staff. The comments also urged prioritizing public safety through wildfire resilience and watershed health over short-term industrial gains or commercial logging and resource extraction. IMBA concluded by calling on the Administration to create a localized collaborative framework to keep Roadless Areas protected, pointing out that these roadless forests support rural recreation economies and the $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation industry, while offering wild experiences that cannot be replaced once lost.

What’s Next for Mountain Bike Advocates?

As noted above, public comments on the Notice of Intent to Prepare Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) were due on September 19, 2025. The proposed rule, accompanied by a draft EIS, is expected by March 2026. This will come along with a request for additional public comment and an anticipated minimum 45-day timeline. IMBA will engage its members and mountain bike Trail Champions in grassroots and grasstops advocacy during the comment period. This will be our opportunity to uplift the perspectives of the mountain bike community in relation to the proposed reversal of the Roadless Rule of 2001. After the close of this second comment period in spring 2026, the final rule, EIS, and record of decision are expected to be released in late 2026.

Read IMBA’s full comments to the U.S.D.A.

Brief Roadless Rule 101

What is the Roadless Rule? 

The Roadless Rule was established in 2001 after enormous public outreach and was designed to keep backcountry forests wild and accessible, while still allowing recreation and responsible management, identifying Roadless Areas on America’s public lands. The Roadless Rule protects Roadless Areas from new road development and timber harvest, but keeps them open to a range of recreational activities including mountain biking, climbing, hiking, paddling, fishing, and even motorized use, as well as critical activities such as habitat restoration and emergency response. Roadless Areas are protected areas representing about 30% of National Forest land. Protected Wilderness designations represent about 19% of National Forest land. The remaining half of the National Forest land is already open to drilling, logging and mining. Roadless Areas are remote, roadless landscapes treasured by the outdoor recreation community for the backcountry recreation experiences they provide.

Why Does the Roadless Rule Matter to Mountain Bikers?

The Roadless Rule keeps some of the best backcountry experiences, like 26,647 miles of trails and nearly 19,596 miles of mountain biking across the U.S., open and wild. The rollback of the Roadless Rule is a significant concern for mountain bikers because it threatens to open up vast, undeveloped areas of National Forests to new road construction, logging, and other industrial development. It would directly impact both the iconic, wild, backcountry experiences that many mountain bikers seek as well as the trail experiences closer to home on trails that exist on the periphery of Roadless Areas. The current planned rescission would affect 45 million acres of National Forests, rolling back protections on 25,121 miles of trails, 8,659 climbing routes, 768 miles of whitewater, and 10,794 miles of mountain biking. If these protections are lost, some of your favorite places to ride, hike, climb, or ski could be opened to logging and road construction.