©USForestService

In 2001, the United States recognized the … significance of over 58 million acres at the heart of our national forests and granted them additional protections known as the Roadless Rule. Last month, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced plans to advance reversing the Roadless Rule, which would open millions of acres of federal lands to industrial development. … Reversing the Roadless Rule would open up 9.3 million acres of the Tongass National Forest, and 5.4 million acres of the Chugach National Forest to development, allowing for roads and structures that will have negative impacts that could last many lifetimes. …With a government focused on putting profits over people, it is no surprise that Sec. Rollins would prefer to use the 58 million acres for short term commercial interests. The American public should be outraged at the prospect of tarnishing our national forests and potentially depleting their resources forever.