Over the past nine months, the Trump administration and Congress have advanced an unprecedented wave of actions and policies aimed at weakening environmental safeguards, opening protected areas to industrial development, and reducing opportunities for public oversight. Many of these actions would have direct, lasting consequences for the Los Padres National Forest and other public lands across the Central Coast.
In response, we launched a series of targeted advocacy campaigns—mobilizing supporters to take action, preparing technical comment letters and interactive maps, crafting coalition sign-on letters, and engaging directly with elected officials and media outlets. In the last 6 months, our members have sent over 5,800 letters to elected officials and agency leaders to help ensure that decisions about our public lands reflect the values of our communities, and we’ve led and coordinated with over 100 other organizations to leverage our collective efforts.
Below is a summary of the major threats we’ve faced, why they matter, and how ForestWatch has taken action.
Bureau of Land Management Oil Leases
The Threat:
The Bureau of Land Management is advancing a plan to open more than 850,000 acres throughout the Central Coast and Central Valley, including 400,000 acres of public lands, to new oil drilling and fracking. This proposal revives a controversial plan from the previous Trump administration.
Why It Matters:
Many of the targeted parcels are adjacent to or within wildlife corridors that connect the Los Padres National Forest to other natural areas, and some lie in the watershed of key rivers and creeks that supply drinking water to nearby communities. Oil drilling in these areas would fragment habitat for mountain lions, steelhead trout, and other sensitive species, while increasing greenhouse gas emissions and industrializing rural landscapes. It would also bring heavy truck traffic, flaring, and the risk of spills to areas that are currently undeveloped.
What We’re Doing:
We issued an action alert that generated more than 550 letters to BLM, engaged local media to highlight the risks to our region, created an interactive map to help the community understand what is at risk, and worked with partner organizations to prepare legal and policy strategies to challenge the plan. Fifty-eight organizations joined our coalition sign-on letter rejecting plans to open our region up to more oil and gas development.
The Roadless Rule
The Threat:
The Trump administration is working to repeal the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which currently protects over 600,000 acres of wild backcountry in the Los Padres National Forest from new road construction and many forms of commercial logging. At the same time, Congress is considering the Roadless Area Conservation Act (RACA), which would make these protections permanent.
Why It Matters:
Roadless areas are some of the most ecologically intact lands remaining in California. In Los Padres, they include the Ventana Wilderness backcountry, Sespe and San Rafael Mountains, and other remote areas that serve as strongholds for biodiversity. These areas filter and store clean drinking water, provide refuges for wildlife, and often offer unparalleled recreation and solitude. Once roads are built, the ecological damage—erosion, invasive species spread, poaching, and habitat fragmentation—can be permanent.
What We’re Doing:
Our campaign generated over 1,500 letters urging lawmakers to support RACA and oppose the repeal. We also joined a coalition of conservation groups to meet with congressional offices, issued press releases to raise awareness, and published maps and fact sheets outlining what would be lost without these protections.
Public Lands Sale
The Threat:
A Senate budget reconciliation proposal earlier this year included a provision to require the sale of millions of acres of public lands deemed “excess” or “disposable.” Mapping showed that more than 800,000 acres in the Los Padres National Forest met the criteria and could have been targeted for privatization.
Why It Matters:
Privatizing public lands would permanently remove them from public ownership, eliminating access for recreation, hunting, and fishing. In Los Padres, it could mean the loss of high-value wildlife habitat, critical migration corridors, and watersheds that supply downstream farms and cities. Once sold, these lands could be fenced off, developed, or mined, with little recourse for the public.
What We’re Doing:
We issued an urgent action alert that generated over 1,000 letters to California’s Senators and key members of Congress. We also coordinated with national partners to elevate the issue in the press and engaged directly with congressional staff to advocate for removal of the provision—which was ultimately stripped from the final bill.
Attacks on the Endangered Species Act
The Threat:
The administration has backed legislative proposals that would weaken the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by changing how the law defines the term “harm”—a critical concept used to protect wildlife. For decades, “harm” has included not only killing or injuring a protected species, but also actions that significantly impair essential habitat needed for feeding, breeding, or sheltering. The proposed change would strip habitat destruction from the definition, allowing activities that degrade or fragment habitat to proceed without ESA enforcement.
Why It Matters:
This shift would severely limit protections for species on the brink of extinction. In Los Padres National Forest, it could mean condor nesting sites, steelhead spawning grounds, and other critical habitats could be bulldozed, logged, or developed without triggering ESA safeguards—so long as the animals themselves are not directly killed. Habitat loss is one of the primary drivers of species decline, and removing it from the law’s scope undermines the ESA’s ability to recover wildlife.
What We’re Doing:
We mobilized nearly 500 letters to lawmakers urging them to reject this change. We also signed onto coalition letters sharing scientific evidence of habitat’s role in species survival and met with elected officials to stress the local consequences of narrowing the definition of “harm.”
Wildfire Risk Reduction Project
The Threat:
The U.S. Forest Service has proposed the WRRP, which would authorize logging and vegetation removal across 90,000 acres of Los Padres National Forest in six counties. While scaled back from an earlier 235,000-acre version, the plan still includes excessively wide fuelbreaks—up to 1,500 feet across—in remote areas that are far from communities. The project is also being pushed through under a Trump administration emergency declaration that cut out the normal public objection process and reduced the number of alternatives considered.
Why It Matters:
These treatments would remove mature trees and chaparral that provide essential habitat, destabilize soils, and promote the spread of invasive grasses—making some areas more fire-prone over time. Scientific studies have shown that large-scale thinning in remote areas does little to stop the most destructive wildfires, which are driven by extreme winds and weather.
What We’re Doing:
ForestWatch led 91 other organizations in development and submittal of an alternative plan that focuses work largely within one mile of homes, infrastructure, and evacuation routes—where thinning and defensible space have been proven to reduce structure loss in wildfires. The Community Alternative would protect the most sensitive ecosystems, reduce project costs, and concentrate resources where they will most effectively protect lives and property.
We also submitted detailed technical comments, generated more than 600 letters from members to the Forest Service, and coordinated with scientists and community leaders to promote the Community Alternative as a more effective, science-based approach.
The “Fix Our Forests” Act
The Threat:
Backed by the timber industry, this bill would fast-track large commercial logging projects on national forests by waiving environmental reviews under NEPA and severely limiting public oversight. It would also promote logging in the name of wildfire prevention, despite scientific evidence that pre-fire thinning often fails to stop, and can even intensify, severe fires.
Why It Matters:
In Los Padres, this bill could open the door to logging in mature and old-growth forests, roadless areas, and chaparral ecosystems—damaging habitat, reducing carbon storage, and increasing erosion and sedimentation in waterways. It would also weaken the public’s ability to review and challenge poorly designed projects before they cause irreversible harm.
What We’re Doing:
We generated over 1,400 letters to Congress opposing the bill and engaged directly with elected officials both locally and in Washington D.C.
Dismantling of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)
The Threat:
In April 2025, the White House’s environmental office removed the main rules that guide how federal agencies follow the National Environmental Policy Act. Soon after, the U.S. Department of Agriculture replaced its own set of detailed rules with a single, simplified policy for all its agencies. This change applies to the Los Padres National Forest and it cut out many of the usual chances for the public to weigh in on projects—such as the early “scoping” stage and the public comment period on draft environmental studies.
Why It Matters:
This dismantling of NEPA limits transparency and prevents communities, scientists, and tribal representatives from meaningfully influencing projects that affect their lands and resources. In Los Padres, it could mean that major logging, drilling, or development projects proceed without adequate environmental review and without input from those most affected.
What We’re Doing:
We’ve been coordinating with partner organizations to elevate opposition to these changes, and we’ve worked to educate local media about how these changes will impact our community.
Forest Service Restructuring and Agency Layoffs
The Threat:
The U.S. Forest Service plans to close all nine regional offices—including Region 5, which oversees California’s national forests—and shift responsibilities to distant “hubs.” At the same time, thousands of staff have been laid off across the Forest Service, National Park Service, EPA, and other agencies, weakening their ability to manage public lands, provide access, and enforce environmental laws.
Why It Matters:
Losing regional offices means losing local expertise and institutional knowledge essential for managing California’s diverse ecosystems. Combined with staff cuts, this restructuring increases the risk of one-size-fits-all policies that fail to account for the unique needs of our region’s forests, chaparral, and grasslands.
What We’re Doing:
We issued statements warning of the risks to local forest management, engaged with media to raise awareness, and attended rallies to support park and forest rangers. We also continue to track the impacts of these changes in order to advocate for restoring capacity and place-based oversight.
Looking Ahead
From oil drilling proposals and land sales to logging bills and rollbacks of bedrock environmental laws, the threats to our public lands are unprecedented in both scope and frequency. LPFW will continue to provide science-based advocacy, mobilize our members, and work with partners to ensure that the Los Padres National Forest—and all public lands—remain protected for future generations.
Header photo by Bryant Baker depicting a roadless area within Los Padres National Forest.