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Approximately 90% of the U.S. population relies on public water systems. A significant portion of the water supplying those systems comes from forested lands, which means policies affecting forests also affect water access. In 2001, the Clinton administration implemented the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, blocking 60 million acres of national forest land from development to limit industrial timber harvest and preserve forest ecosystems. Although popular with the public, the roadless rule drew immediate criticism from timber and related industries. Last summer, the federal government announced plans to rescind it. A new study from the University of Washington and Conservation Science Partners, published in PLOS, highlights the potential consequences of losing those protections by mapping how the roadless rule protects rivers.