The Trump administration announced on Tuesday it will propose rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which currently protects 45 million acres of national forest land from road construction, drilling and logging. The rule, created in the final years of the Clinton administration, limits development on federal forest lands. The US Forest Service, an agency within the Department of Agriculture, filed the proposal to rescind the rule in its entirety. Conservation groups criticized the plan, saying it would expose large tracts of old-growth forest to industrial use and could affect wildlife habitat, water quality and carbon storage. Alex Craven, forest campaign manager for the Sierra Club, said the rule prevents much of the nation's remote forests from industrial development. The Natural Resources Defense Council called for public comments to defend the forests. Administration officials said the change would remove barriers to forest management and improve wildfire response. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said outdated restrictions have kept tens of millions of forested acres off-limits to treatments that improve forest health and reduce wildfire risk to communities. Forest Service chief Tom Schultz said more than 40% of inventoried roadless areas in the West have high or very high wildfire hazard potential, yet only 5% have received hazardous fuels reduction treatments since 2014. Critics argue that fire risk is not the primary motive and that opening forests to logging and road building would harm ecosystems and the economies that depend on tourism and recreation. The public has until September 21 to submit comments.