The Trump administration announced that it is seeking to fully rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which bars road building on more than 44 million acres of federal forest land. NAHB supports repealing the Roadless Rule because it is overly restrictive, limits state and local land management, and unnecessarily prevents responsible federal timber harvesting. While the rescission would remove the national designation of roadless areas, it would not require timber cutting or road construction. Instead, it would return decisions about roadless areas to local forest managers. Because the nation imports more than 25% of the softwood lumber needed to build new homes, NAHB believes responsibly opening federal forest lands is an important step toward increasing domestic timber production for American home owners and home buyers. …Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted through Regulations.gov. Comments are due by midnight on Sept. 21.