Jun 28, 2026 · 24 min · 11 segments
Congresspeople from Wyoming and Utah and the Trump administration have announced goals to dismantle the 25-year-old National Forest “Roadless Rule.” That protects some 3 million acres around Wyoming…
Frederick ReimersHostCan you tell us what does that mean exactly? I know some people are confused with the idea of little W wilderness, so-called, and big W wilderness.
And I think you hit on maybe the biggest area of confusion is that there are many places that feel wild.
And we kind of categorize that as little W wilderness, meaning it is wilderness.
very remote and pristine and wonderful and gives you that wilderness experience but big w wilderness or capital w wilderness is protected under law under the wilderness act of 1964 and then following that act different states passed additional acts like we did here in wyoming like the 1984 wilderness act that protected places like the grovant wilderness and the jed smith wilderness
Yeah, you just mentioned two places that are really close to us, right? Yeah,
Jackson Hole and Teton County is really fortunate that we are surrounded by wilderness.
We have Jed Smith to the west, we have the Gros Ventre to the east, the Teton Wilderness to the north, and the Bridger Wilderness down to the south.
And then on top of that, we have places like Yellowstone National Park and And Grand Teton National Park, that even though they're protected in another way, they still have that wilderness feel.
And I gather that a roadless area isn't necessarily the same as a wilderness area.
So the roadless rule is very different than the wilderness act and they protect landscapes in, in significantly different ways.
The, the wilderness act, I like to say is the creme de la creme of land protection.
where the roadless rule is protected through this executive action, so it's not protected under law, and it is pretty simple in what it says it protects.
It says no more road building or reconstruction in these areas, and it also limits timber production from these areas.
Can you tell us what does that mean exactly? I know some people are confused with the idea of little W wilderness, so-called, and big W wilderness.
And I think you hit on maybe the biggest area of confusion is that there are many places that feel wild.
And we kind of categorize that as little W wilderness, meaning it is wilderness.
very remote and pristine and wonderful and gives you that wilderness experience but big w wilderness or capital w wilderness is protected under law under the wilderness act of 1964 and then following that act different states passed additional acts like we did here in wyoming like the 1984 wilderness act that protected places like the grovant wilderness and the jed smith wilderness
Yeah, you just mentioned two places that are really close to us, right? Yeah,
Jackson Hole and Teton County is really fortunate that we are surrounded by wilderness.
We have Jed Smith to the west, we have the Gros Ventre to the east, the Teton Wilderness to the north, and the Bridger Wilderness down to the south.
And then on top of that, we have places like Yellowstone National Park and And Grand Teton National Park, that even though they're protected in another way, they still have that wilderness feel.
And I gather that a roadless area isn't necessarily the same as a wilderness area.
So the roadless rule is very different than the wilderness act and they protect landscapes in, in significantly different ways.
The, the wilderness act, I like to say is the creme de la creme of land protection.
where the roadless rule is protected through this executive action, so it's not protected under law, and it is pretty simple in what it says it protects.
It says no more road building or reconstruction in these areas, and it also limits timber production from these areas.
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