LAKE TAHOE, Calif./Nev. – With a notice published Friday, Aug. 29, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has initiated the next step in a process to rollback its 2001 Roadless Rule, which impacts National Forest Service lands, including certain areas in Truckee-Tahoe.
The publication is a notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the proposed rescission, triggering a public comment period that runs until Sept. 19.
As previously reported in the Tribune, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke L. Rollins, expressed in June plans to rescind the rule. For 25 years, the rule has prohibited new roads and timber harvest on 30% of National Forest System lands. (You can learn more about the June announcement and the Roadless Rule in the article titled, Forest Service proposes rollback of 25 year rule protecting lands that includes portions of Tahoe)…