Forest Service chief faces scrutiny over logging ties as Trump plans to scrap protections

Rollback of ‘roadless rule’ expected to benefit companies US Forest Service chief, Tom Schultz, previously lobbied for Donald Trump this month announced plans to rescind a landmark rule that has protected old-growth forests in the US for 25 years.

If finalized, the rollback is expected to benefit the companies that Tom Schultz, chief of the US Forest Service, represented in his previous roles as a timber industry lobbyist and executive, according to research by consumer advocacy non-profit Public Citizen.

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule, more commonly known as the “roadless rule”, was adopted in 2001 to limit development in roughly 45m acres of national forest.

Industry interests and Republican representatives have long lobbied for the rule’s rescission , which would open up those swaths of untouched land to road construction, drilling and logging.

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