The Trump administration is rolling back a landmark conservation rule from the Clinton era that prevents roadbuilding and logging on roughly 58 million acres of federal forest and wildlands. Rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule comes as the USFS is under orders by Trump to increase logging and thinning in forests to address the wildfire threat. Environmentalists have already indicated they'll sue to prevent its reversal, however. The 2001 Roadless Rule effectively created de facto wilderness protections for scores of forests in the West and Alaska. Republican states and industry groups say Clinton usurped power reserved for Congress in the Wilderness Act. They have tried to overturn it for decades, filing more than a dozen unsuccessful lawsuits against it. Environmentalists counter that wildfires are more likely to occur in forests that have been developed with roads and other infrastructure. Trump is trying to turn over America's precious natural resources to voracious capitalists.

Trees are the lungs of the planet, replenishing oxygen into the atmosphere while filtering out carbon. Forests keep the soil alive and help cool the planet. Last century writer Isaac Asimov wrote that to save the Earth, humans must keep protecting and planting more trees. Both William Shakespeare and Anton Chekhov inserted into their works the importance of forests to nature and humanity. Destroying 58m acres will also negatively impact millions of innocent animals and disrupt the eco-system. Despicable ex-President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro also allowed the mass arboricide of the Brazilian Rain Forests for the sake of profits. This rightwing 'Trump of South America' is on trial for his role in the 8 Jan 2023 coup attempt against President Luiz Lulu' Da Silva. Link: Death Warrant for America's Forests