Rollins Moves to Repeal Rule Shielding 58 Million Forest Acres as Trump Expands Public-Lands Access
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 5
Rollins Moves to Repeal Rule Shielding 58 Million Forest Acres as Trump Expands Public-Lands Access
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 5
Summary
58 million acres of U.S. national forests could lose road-building and logging limits as Agriculture Secretary Brooke L Rollins works to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule.
The rollback would open protected public lands to timber harvests and other development, reversing a policy that drew nearly 2 million public comments and broad bipartisan backing.
180 million Americans rely on forested lands for drinking water, and opponents say new roads and logging would fragment wildlife habitat and increase sediment pollution.
The move fits a wider Trump administration push on public lands: the U.S. Forest Service is also preparing to open about 5 million national-forest acres, mainly in Idaho and Montana, to off-road vehicles.