Montana’s Roadless Areas: Facts and Sources
Big Game Habitat
93% of elk summer range in Montana is found within roadless areas. Roadless areas also provide secure habitat during hunting season that keeps big game on public land where they are accessible to hunters in top hunting areas like the Elkhorns, Snowcrest Range, and Rocky Mountain Front.
Sources
Montana FWP (1999) Montana elk winter ranges, summer ranges, calving areas, and migration areas. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Helena, MT. databasin.org/datasets/0eca4ea8f9b34555870599b815946d6e
Montana FWP Elk Habitat Management Report: fwp.mt.gov/binaries/content/assets/fwp/conservation/elk/research/2025-annual-reports/elk-habitat-management-in-mt-2025-final-report-reduced.pdf
Ranglack, Dustin H., Kelly M. Proffitt, Jodie E. Canfield, Justin A. Gude, Jay Rotella, and Robert A. Garrott. 2022. “ Modeling Broad-Scale Patterns of Elk Summer Resource Selection in Montana Using Regional and Population-Specific Models.” Ecosphere 13(12): e4311. esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ecs2.4311
Trout Habitat
79% of roadless areas in Montana are home to native trout, including bull trout, Westslope cutthroat trout, and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Studies have demonstrated that roads can negatively impact trout populations by causing water quality degradation from increased sediment and pollutants, as well as altered stream channels, fragmented habitat, and migration barriers.
Sources
Trout Unlimited, State of the Trout: A Report on the Status and Trends of Native Trout in the United States (2015). scribd.com/document/942949702/State-of-the-Trout-2015-web
Wildfires
As of 2023, 78% of human-caused fires on national forests nationwide start within ½ mile of a road. 85% of all wildfires are human-caused. Wildfires are four times more likely to start near roads.
Sources
National Interagency Fire Center. Wildfire Investigation. Retrieved February 26, 2026. nifc.gov/fire-information/fire-prevention-education-mitigation/wildfire-investigation
Association for Fire Ecology. Three-decade record of contiguous-U.S. national forest wildfires indicates increased density of ignitions near roads. Aplet, Gregory H, Phil Hartger, and Matthew S. Dietz. Retrieved February 26, 2026. nwfirescience.org/sites/default/files/publications/s42408-026-00450-2%20%281%29.pdf
USDA 2025, S_USA.Activity_HazFuelTrt_PL. data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/edw/datasets.php?xmlKeyword=Hazardous+Fuel+Treatment
National Interagency Fire Center. Wildfire Prevention. Retrieved September 15, 2025. nifc.gov/fire-information/fire-prevention-education-mitigation/wildfire-prevention
Aplet, G.H., Hartger, P. & Dietz, M.S. Three-decade record of contiguous-U.S. national forest wildfires indicates increased density of ignitions near roads. fire ecol 22, 8 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-026-00450-2
Motorized Use
32% of motorized trails on national forest land in Montana are located within roadless areas, totaling 878 miles of trails open to off-highway vehicles.
Sources
Derived from analysis of USDA S_USA.Trans_MVUM_Trail (2025). Retrieved February 26, 2026. data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/edw/datasets.php?xmlKeyword=Motor+Vehicle+Use+Map
Grazing
2.2 million acres of roadless areas in Montana are within grazing allotments. This represents approximately 1/3 of all allotments on national forest lands in the state.
Sources
Derived from analysis of USDA, S_USA.Range_Allotment (2025). Retrieved February 26, 2026. data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/edw/datasets.php?xmlKeyword=allotment
Active Management
Since the 2001 Roadless Rule went into effect, there have been 188,393 acres of hazardous fuels treatments conducted in roadless areas within Montana. This represents 20% of all hazardous fuels treatments during this timeframe.
Sources
Derived from analysis of USA 2025, S_USA.FireOccurrence. Retrieved February 26, 2026. data.fs.usda.gov/geodata/edw/datasets.php?xmlKeyword=National+USFS+Fire+Occurrence+Point
Trout Unlimited, Roadless Areas by the Numbers. Accessed February 26, 2026. experience.arcgis.com/experience/7308297f88484984a5ee5bcf2d5ae6b4/page/Page?org=trout&views=Map-Layers
Energy Development
The 2001 Roadless Rule recognizes valid existing rights for oil and gas development and does not prohibit new leasing. However, over 90% of roadless areas in Montana are rated as having low or very low potential for oil and gas production.
Sources
Trout Unlimited, Roadless Areas by the Numbers. Accessed February 26, 2026. storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/4d9978ecdfb246e4a53b8a5681b631cb
Existing Roads
There are 370,000 miles of road on our national forests, enough to circle the Earth nearly 15 times. The Forest Service is burdened by a $8.6 billion deferred maintenance backlog, 58% of which is due to dilapidated roads. We need to take care of the roads we already have, not add more roads that the Forest Service doesn’t have the resources or personnel to maintain.
Sources
U.S. Department of Agriculture. (n.d.). National Forest System Fact Sheet – Fiscal Year 2024 [fact sheet]. Retrieved February 26, 2006. https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/fs_media/fs_document/FY24-forest-system-stats.pdf