The U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a move that would remove federal restrictions on road building and logging across nearly 45 million acres, or 18 million hectares, of national forest land. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said the change would help reduce wildfire risk by returning more authority to local forest managers, while the USDA said the proposal does not require timber cutting or new road construction. Supporters, including Republican Governor Greg Gianforte of Montana, say the rule has limited wildfire management and road development, even though many of the affected areas already contain existing roads. Environmental groups argue the rollback would expose wildlife habitat to more disturbance and could increase fire risk near newly developed access routes. The proposal comes during one of the worst U.S. wildfire years in the past decade, with 7.3 million acres burned in about 49,000 fires through August 17, and follows other Trump administration environmental rollbacks, including recent changes affecting Endangered Species Act habitat decisions. Public comments on the roadless rule proposal are due by September 21.