CODY — More than 45 million acres of national forestlands could be opened for development after U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins announced the agency would take the next step in rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule by opening a public comment period.

The Roadless Rule is a conservation measure that established prohibitions on road construction, reconstruction and timber harvesting across nearly 60 million acres of inventoried roadless areas with limited exceptions.

The comment period, which opened last Friday, will last 21 days with the federal register closing on Sept. 19.

An interactive map unveiled by Trout Unlimited last week shows what forestlands would be affected by the prospective rule change and reveals more than 660,000 acres in the Shoshone National Forest would b

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