Forest Service plans to repeal rule that has blocked logging, mining in parts of Alaska and the West

The U.S. Forest Service will seek to repeal a rule that has effectively blocked the logging of almost a third of America’s national forests, Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins told a meeting of Western governors on Monday in New Mexico.

The “Roadless Rule” has blocked the construction of new roads in wild areas of most states’ national forests since 2001, when it was imposed in the closing days of President Bill Clinton’s presidency.

“In this…