Deer Valley Resort sits next to federally protected forest that could lose a layer of defense against development if the Trump administration repeals a 25-year-old conservation rule.

The administration released a draft environmental impact statement on Aug. 20 proposing to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. The rule restricts road construction, logging and mining on more than 44 million acres of national forest nationwide. The public comment period on the proposal closed Oct. 6.

At least half of Utah's 16 ski areas border or overlap inventoried roadless areas, according to The Salt Lake Tribune's analysis of Forest Service maps and ski area boundaries. The list includes Deer Valley, Brighton Resort, Solitude Mountain Resort and Snowbird.

Deer Valley is in the middle of its Expanded Excellence initiative, announced in August 2023. The resort will have 4,500 skiable acres and 32 lifts for the 2026-27 season and plans to reach 5,726 acres when the project is complete, according to Deer Valley's expansion updates. The resort has not publicly commented on the Roadless Rule proposal or whether it would seek to expand onto adjacent roadless land.

Most resorts that spoke to the Tribune said they have no immediate plans to push into roadless terrain. Snowbird general manager Dave Fields said the resort has no intention of expanding to White Pine Ridge regardless of the rule's fate. Brighton general manager Mike Doyle told the Tribune his resort remains bound by other Forest Service restrictions that prohibit expansion on federal land.

The rule has blocked resort growth before. In 2018, Nordic Valley Resort near Ogden tried to expand from 140 skiable acres to 2,800 by reaching Lewis Peak. Jack Stauss, executive director of Save Our Canyons, told the Tribune the project failed in part because it was denied right-of-way onto roadless federal land. Nordic Valley's owner still intends to expand if it can secure federal permits, according to a Utah Foundation report first reported by KSL in April.

"Getting rid of things like the Roadless Rule … it just creates ambiguity in the protection of our lands in perpetuity," Stauss told the Tribune on Oct. 2.

Conservation groups warn the repeal would threaten backcountry recreation. Dani Poirier, director of the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance, told the Tribune that White Pine Gulch in Little Cottonwood Canyon is one of the busiest backcountry areas in the state and that she worries its character would be lost without the rule. Nicole Brown, spokesperson for the national advocacy group Outdoor Alliance, told the Tribune she considers the Roadless Rule the "Goldilocks of designations" because it permits hiking, biking, hunting and backcountry skiing while blocking industrial development.

Even if the rule is repealed, other barriers remain. Most Forest Service land in the Cottonwood Canyons carries designations more restrictive than the Roadless Rule, including a watershed protection that prohibits logging, road construction and new trails to safeguard Salt Lake City's water supply. Resorts that lease public land must also get Forest Service approval for any changes to their special use permits.

Gov. Spencer Cox supports the repeal, saying in a USDA news release in September that rescinding the rule would restore flexibility for local land managers. The administration says the change would allow better wildfire mitigation and increased timber harvests.

The Forest Service estimates the repeal could boost logging revenue by $5.2 million to $11.4 million annually but could also reduce visitor spending by about $9 million due to impaired backcountry recreation. The agency faces a nearly $7 billion backlog in road maintenance, and building new roads in steep mountain terrain costs three to 10 times more than on flat ground.

The Forest Service has not set a timeline for a final rule.