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Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins submitted the proposal on Tuesday, saying it will mitigate wildfire risk by returning authority to local forest managers, who “know the land best”.
list 1 of 4Fires in Spokane, Washington, burn 600 structures, force 60,000 evacuations.
list 2 of 4Poll suggests US adults are facing increased strain from extreme heat.
list 3 of 4Pilot and crew member die in helicopter crash battling Utah fire.
list 4 of 4California tackles multiple wildfires as firefighter workforce faces strain.
The Trump administration and Republican lawmakers say building roads in these areas would make it easier for firefighters to access the land if a wildfire breaks out.
While the areas are referred to as “roadless”, there are thousands of miles of existing roads within the lands with federal, state, and county ownership. About half of these lands are within 1 mile (1.
6km) of a road, and 31 percent are within 0. 5 miles (800 metres) of a road, according to the National Forest Service.
The USDA clarified that it is not forcing timber cutting or road construction.
But environmental groups say rescinding the conservation rule will open the door to developments that will increase the risk of wildfire. Fires are four times more likely to start near roads than in roadless forests, according to research from The Wilderness Society.
The US is experiencing one of its worst wildfire years in the last decade, with 7. 3 million acres (3 million hectares) burned in about 49,000 fires through August 17, according to the National Interagency Fire Center.
More than 95 percent of the affected areas would be in 10 states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
In early August, the state of Washington fought a highly destructive wildfire that burned more than 8,000 acres (3,200 hectares) and forced approximately 65,000 people to evacuate.
Last month, the Trump administration finalised rollbacks of two regulations affecting the Endangered Species Act. One change requires officials to weigh economic and national security considerations when determining whether an area should be designated as “critical habitat”.
The public will have until September 21 to comment on the proposed Roadless Rule.
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Informação baseada em material público de Al Jazeera, reescrito pela redação ULTRA NOTÍCIAS.
