FILE – Wilson Peak, San Juan National Forest, Colorado (Photo by: Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
\n\nThe U.S. Forest Service has filed a proposal to rescind a rule that protected millions of acres of national forests in order to allow for more road construction, drilling and logging operations.
\n\nAgriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced a proposed rule to entirely rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, aiming to hand control back to local land managers.
\n\nDoing so would open up about 44 million acres of national forest land to road construction.
\n\nRollins claimed doing so would reduce wildfire risks.
\n\nSome officials argued that the rule's one-size-fits-all restrictions created dangerous, overgrown tinderboxes by blocking critical active forest management, while opponents express concern over potential logging and development.
\n\nCalling the roadless rule a failure, Rollins added that the proposal calls for removing barriers that have kept local land managers from improving forest health across millions of acres.
\n\nThe proposed rescission does not mandate immediate timber harvesting or road building, but rather aligns with several of President Donald Trump's deregulation executive orders to allow individual forest plans — developed alongside local communities, states, and tribes — to guide decisions in…
Original source: https://www.livenowfox.com/weather
