Last week the Department of Agriculture advanced plans to rollback the roadless area conservation rule. … The rule was intended to mitigate negative impacts from road construction and usage on forests and watersheds. Now environmental groups across the nation, including here in Humboldt County, are rallying to stop the rule from being rescinded. … “[A]bout 354 municipal water districts that get their water from national forest systems … and new road construction would contribute more sedimentation and decreased water quality within those 354 municipal water districts,” said Josefina Barrantes, the 30X30 Coordinator for EPIC. The rollback would affect 4 million acres of national forests in California.

Other Roadless Rule news:

• Cody Enterprise (Wyo.): Opinions differ on proposed rescission of Roadless Rule
• The Salt Lake Tribune (Utah): Opinion: Protect iconic areas across the nation. Stand up for the Roadless Rule Conservation Act.
• The Revelator: Blog: The Roadless Rule is on the chopping block — and so are our wildest forests