Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA or Department) is proposing to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (2001 Roadless Rule), which established broad prohibitions on road construction, road reconstruction, and timber harvesting within inventoried roadless areas on National Forest System lands. The intent of this proposed action is to reduce regulatory burden and return decisionmaking for the management of inventoried roadless areas to the land management planning process at the individual national forest level. Rescission of the national-level prohibitions provides responsible officials with flexibility to better guide management of National Forest System lands and respond to changing local resource conditions. The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974, as amended by the National Forest Management Act of 1976, and the associated land management planning processes and plans are the appropriate and effective mechanisms to guide sustainable, integrated management of the resources within the plan areas in the context of the broader landscape, giving due consideration to the relative values of the various resources in particular areas. The USDA invites public comment on this proposed rule, the associated draft environmental impact statement, and cost benefit analysis, which are being published simultaneously.