Agency says rule is a barrier to reducing wildfire risk
The U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday filed a formal proposal to rescind the roadless rule, a 25-year-old regulation that has blocked logging, road building and other development on national forest lands.
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced the move. “Our forests can’t afford another decade of inaction. Across the country, we’ve watched preventable conditions — overgrown stands, insect outbreaks and disease — turn healthy landscapes into tinderboxes,” Rollins said in a written statement.
The Forest Service, in announcing the proposal, described the rule as “a one-size-fits-all restriction that has frustrated land managers and served as a barrier to reducing wildfire risks in the nation’s forests.”
The roadless rule was adopted in the last days of President Bill Clinton’s administration in 2001.
The proposal drew opposition from environmentalists nationwide.