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Wednesday, Sep. 3, 2025

Could more than 1 million acres of Arizona wilderness soon be open to development?

Tallulah Anne, Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting
yes

The U.S. Department of Agriculture in June 2025 announced plans to rescind the “Roadless Rule,” which prohibits road-building and logging across 58.5 million acres of national forests nationwide. That includes 1.1 million acres in Arizona.

Enacted in 2011, the rule aimed to preserve portions of the National Forest System by keeping them free from road construction and other major development. In Arizona, protected areas span parts of the Coconino, Kaibab, Prescott, Tonto, Apache-Sitgreaves and Coronado national forests. 

Environment Arizona, a research and policy center, notes that these lands provide crucial conservation areas for endangered species such as the Mexican spotted owl, Apache trout and jaguar.

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The Arizona Center for Investigative Reporting is the state’s only independent, nonpartisan and collaborative nonprofit newsroom dedicated to statewide, data-driven investigative reporting. AZCIR's mission is to hold powerful people and institutions accountable by exposing injustice and systemic inequities through investigative journalism.

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