SEATTLE, Wash. – Washington was among several states who submitted a comment letter to the U.S. Forest Service on Friday, urging the agency to reconsider the Trump administration’s plans to open 45 million acres of land in national forests for logging and road construction.

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, enacted in 2001, prohibits road construction and timber harvesting in inventoried roadless areas in U.S. national forests. The rule still allows for flexibility in circumstances like managing wildfire. The Trump administration announced its intention to repeal the rule in June.

“In Washington, the rule protects approximately 2 million acres statewide, including parts of the Olympic, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Gifford Pinchot, Okanogan-Wenatchee, Colville, and Umatilla national forest

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