Event: 2001 Roadless Rule
Protect Utah’s Roadless Areas: Community Comment Night at Black Diamond
Wednesday, September 9 | 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Black Diamond Headquarters
2092 East 3900 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84124
The Salt Lake Climbers Alliance, Black Diamond, Save Our Canyons, and Wasatch Backcountry Alliance are coming together for a community night focused on the future of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and what its proposed rescission could mean for Utah’s public lands.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is currently proposing to rescind the Roadless Rule, which provides nationwide restrictions on road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting within inventoried roadless areas on National Forest System lands. If finalized, these protections could be lost and the landscapes that have remained undeveloped for generations could be changed forever.
For Utah’s outdoor community, this matters. Roadless areas help preserve the undeveloped landscapes surrounding many of the places where we climb, ski, hike, bike, hunt, and recreate. They protect opportunities for quiet and self-reliant recreation, wildlife habitat, watersheds, historic landscapes, and the scenic character of our National Forests.
USDA’s own analysis acknowledges that rescission could result in noise, visible infrastructure, temporary closures, increased user conflicts, and tradeoffs with opportunities for “quiet, remote and self-reliant recreation.”
Join Us and Make Your Voice Heard
Stop by Black Diamond anytime between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. to learn more about the proposal and take action.
Around 6:30 p.m., representatives from local outdoor and conservation organizations will give a short presentation explaining the Roadless Rule, what USDA is proposing to change, and how those changes could affect climbing, backcountry recreation, watersheds, wildlife, and roadless landscapes throughout Utah.
Afterward, we’ll help community members:
Learn how to submit an effective public comment to USDA;
Explore maps showing where inventoried roadless areas are located;
Identify roadless areas near the places where they climb, ski, hike, and recreate;
Submit a personalized comment to the official federal docket; and
Write a postcard to their U.S. Representative asking them to advocate for continued protection of Utah’s roadless National Forest lands.
No previous knowledge of the Roadless Rule is necessary. We’ll have information and people available to answer questions and help you participate.
Whether you have spent decades climbing in the Wasatch or simply care about keeping our Nations National Forest landscapes wild, undeveloped, and accessible for future generations, this is an opportunity to make your voice part of the public record.
Come learn about the proposal, write a comment, send a postcard, and speak up for the places where we climb and recreate.
