USDA Rolls Back Rule Restricting Logging on National Forest Lands

The department said that rescinding the rule would open nearly 59 million acres of federal forest lands to wildfire prevention efforts.

A large fir tree heads to the forest floor after it is cut by an unidentified logger in the Umpqua National Forest near Oakridge, Oregon, In this undated photograph. Don Ryan/AP Photo

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said on Monday that the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is rescinding a 2001 rule designed to protect national forest lands from logging and road construction.

The USDA said in a statement that the roadless area rule, enacted during President Bill Clinton’s administration, was “overly restrictive” and affects about 30 percent of federal forest lands.