KEY POINTS

The Trump administration wants to repeal the Roadless Rule that keeps millions of acres of public land from development.

Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz said the rule is a harmful, restrictive regulation and forests should be managed locally.

Conservationists say the rule serves the country well and a repeal would lead to development and degradation.

In late June, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced at the Western Governors’ Association in New Mexico that the USDA would be repealing the 2001 Roadless Rule.

It’s a policy that prohibits the building of roads on 44.7 million acres of public lands (which was initially 58.5 million, but several states have carved out exceptions for themselves) that was implemented to conserve and protect just 2% of remaining Americ

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