General Congressional Update
Congress spent most of August away from Washington for its annual summer recess. Before leaving town, lawmakers made progress on Fiscal Year 2027 government funding, with all 12 spending bills advancing through the House Appropriations Committee and three passing the full House. Congress has since passed a short-term funding bill that keeps the federal government open through December 11, giving lawmakers additional time to negotiate full-year spending bills.
Congress is now returning to Washington, but there will be very little time for legislative work before the November midterm elections. House Speaker Mike Johnson has indicated that he will cancel votes during the final two weeks of September, leaving the House with just four legislative days from September 14–17 before members return to their districts. The House is not scheduled to return for regular legislative business until November 9. This short window will make it difficult to move many outstanding public lands and conservation bills before the election, putting greater importance on the post-election “lame-duck” session to finish congressional business before the end of the year.
Forest Service Roadless Rule
On August 20, the U.S. Forest Service published its proposed rule and Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, beginning the next major stage of an effort first announced last year. A 30-day public comment period opened on August 21 and closes October 6. The Roadless Rule currently limits road construction across roughly 58 million acres (44.7 million not including Idaho or Colorado) of inventoried roadless areas on National Forest System lands. The Forest Service’s proposed alternative recommends fully rescinding the national rule, which would return management of these areas largely to individual forest plans and other existing laws and regulations. The separate Idaho and Colorado state roadless rules would remain in place.
The DEIS outlined in this announcement considers three alternatives. Alternative 1, No Action, would leave the existing Roadless Rule in place. Alternative 2, the Proposed Action, would fully rescind the national rule. Alternative 3, the Modified Rule, would retain some protections but still substantially scale back the existing rule, removing approximately 31.7 million acres from its protections. This includes the 9.3 million acres of inventoried roadless areas on the Tongass National Forest, as well as millions of acres near existing roads and the wildland-urban interface and areas covered by other management designations. BHA strongly opposes blanket rescission and is closely evaluating Alternative 3, which, despite being presented as an alternative to full repeal, would still represent a major reduction in nationwide roadless protections. With comments due October 6th, BHA is mobilizing hunters and anglers to explain why these intact landscapes remain important for fish and wildlife habitat, clean water and backcountry hunting and fishing opportunities.
To speak up, go to BHA’s Roadless Rule Action Alert HERE.
Forest Service Travel Management Rule
On August 24, the U.S. Forest Service published a Notice of Intent to revise the 2005 Travel Management Rule, which governs motorized travel on National Forest System lands. The 30-day public comment period runs through September 23. This is still an early stage: the Forest Service is gathering input before developing a proposed rule and Draft Environmental Impact Statement, expected in spring 2027. Existing travel-management decisions and Motor Vehicle Use Maps remain in effect in the meantime.
The changes under consideration could significantly reshape how motorized access is managed. Most notably, the Forest Service is considering a new “presumption of access,” under which existing roads, trails, airfields and other access points would generally be presumed open unless there is a documented reason for restriction. The proposal would also remove the existing national minimization criteria used to minimize impacts to soils, watersheds, wildlife habitat and other recreational uses; create new opportunities for limited off-route motorized use for activities such as downed big-game retrieval, dispersed camping and firewood collection; and generally allow Class 1 e-bikes on trails already open to traditional bicycles. BHA is pulling together a fly in of Western Chapter leaders to call for common sense, responsible travel management during this rulemaking process. Comments on this Notice of Intent are due September 23.
To speak up, go to BHA’s Travel Management Action Alert HERE.
31