In June, U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced that they wanted to rescind the Roadless Rule, arguing that it created needless obstacles to land management. However, many conservationists say reversing this decision puts millions of forest acreage at risk.

The Roadless Rule, established in 2001, protects about 60 million acres of National Forest land all across the U.S., including Michigan. These areas have no roads, logging, or mining. Outdoors lovers, conservationists, and others value these lands for their natural wilderness. 

When the rule was first proposed, it received over 1.5 million public comments in support, showing strong public backing.

Effects in Michigan

If the Roadless Rule is repealed, 16,000 acres in Michigan could be harmed. Most of Michigan’s roadless areas are in the Upper Peninsula including the Hiawatha National Forest, as well as parts of the Lower Peninsula, in the Manistee National Forest and Ottawa National Forest.

Anna Medema is the Sierra Club’s Associate Director of Legislative and Administrative Advocacy for forests and public land. She says keeping the Roadless Rule in effect is vitally important. “Once you build a road into a forest area it could take decades or centuries if you were to decommission these roads and try to let it regrow wildly,” Medema says. “Those wild characteristics are really rare.”

Trump administration officials say that removing the protections could help reduce wildfires by facilitating forest management. However, research shows that wildfires tend to happen more often in areas with roads because of human activity, negating potential benefits of road access.

In Michigan, wildfires are generally less common and less serious. Additionally, building roads and logging could actually raise the risk of fires.

The public can comment on the Roadless Rule here until September 19. 

This story is part of WDET’s ongoing series, The Detroit Tree Canopy Project.

Palmer Park provides a peaceful escape from the noisy, hot summer streets of Detroit. 

Spanning roughly 70 acres of forest, the park is home to over one hundred native plant species including treasured, towering oaks — some of which are centuries old. It serves as a sanctuary for wildlife such as pollinator bees, butterflies, birds, deer, and coyotes. 

There are many reasons that Palmer Park is one of the most popular urban parks in Detroit, but taking a closer look at the conditions of the tree canopy has one forestry educator concerned for the future.  

Southeast Michigan forestry educator Jackson Gorland founded the Michigan Forestry Club to share his passion for trees with the public.

Jackson Gorland identifying sassafras in Palmer Park

He recently conducted a forest forensics lesson at Palmer Park on a hot, humid Tuesday where he said that fewer tree species are thriving in the park without human intervention, risking reduced biodiversity.  

“Having a diversity of species in there…not just relying on a couple of species that are shade tolerant,” Gorland says. “Absolutely have beech in there, absolutely have sugar maple in… it’s [about] creating a mosaic of different conditions that promotes biodiversity.”

Gorland stresses that hands-on actions are needed to ensure the survival of Palmer Park’s oaks, which require full sunlight. According to

Gorland, shade-tolerant species are crowding them out. There are also more mature oaks than young saplings, a sign that future survival is in jeopardy.

The park recently did a prescribed burn to help young oaks, but further consistent interventions are needed, says Gorland. 

The Michigan Forestry Club plans to host additional forest forensics classes across parks in Metro Detroit and Ann Arbor.

This story is part of WDET’s ongoing series, The Detroit Tree Canopy Project.

WDET’s Natalie Albrecht contributed to this report.

Editor’s note: Edited on 9/2/25 to correct a misattribution in photo caption. Gorland is identifying sassafras, not saffron. We apologize for the error. 

Heat is now the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the U.S. — with 12,000 lives claimed annually — and this number is expected to increase significantly by the turn of the century.

In large cities, temperatures in the summer can reach even higher than normal due to the “urban heat island” effect. 

New data compiled by the nonprofit American Forests and the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation identifies areas in cities across the United States that lack enough protection from the sun.  These areas are known as “shade deserts.” 

The new shade map covers more than 100 of the country’s biggest urban areas, including Detroit.

One effective way to stay cooler is by increasing shade, especially through planting trees, which can reduce the effects of high temps significantly. But according to American Forests a lack of shade in Detroit — especially at bus stops and along roadways — is harming thousands. 

Less than 60% of households in Detroit have air conditioning, said Chris David, vice president of GIS & Data Science at American Forests. Additionally, he says those using public and alternative transit are even more at risk of heat-related illness and death. 

“I think there’s about 5,000 bus stops in Detroit,” David said. “About 90% of those 5,000 bus stops have poor shade.” 

He says bus shelters provide “very little” sun protection, with only about 5% of bus stops in the city covered.  

“That means we estimated about 85,000 daily transit riders in Detroit….they’re left exposed to the sun when they’re waiting for the bus… and that can have dire effects,” David said.

David says Detroit will benefit from a strategic plan to increase the tree canopy, with groups like the Greening of Detroit working toward that goal in partnership with city government. 

You can view the American Forests/UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation shade map here. 

This story is part of WDET’s ongoing series, The Detroit Tree Canopy Project.