Department of Ag advances plan to rescind Roadless Rule
EVERETT — The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the parent agency to the U.S. Forest Service, opened public comment on Friday as its next step to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule, which currently protects 58 million acres of national forests including parts of Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest from road building and logging.
If rescinded, 45 million acres including 336,000 acres in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest could be subject to management.
On Friday, the Department of Agriculture Forest Service published a notice in the Federal Register, stating its intent to create an environmental impact statement of a rollback and notifying the public has until Sept. 19 to submit comments.
The notice also detailed the administration’s reasoning for rescinding the rule, arguing the rollback “would provide discretion for local land managers to tailor management, as appropriate, to local land conditions,” and allow flexibility for “timber production, recreation, wildfire suppression, and fuel reduction treatments.”
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/department-of-ag-advances-plan-to-rescind-roadless-rule/
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