If the Trump administration’s proposed changes go through, around 85,000 acres of forests in Tennessee might be opened for development.

The administration is pushing to develop more than 58 million acres of national forests that were previously protected, including those in Tennessee.

During an announcement, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins mentioned that there’s a three-week period for the public to comment on the proposal to withdraw federal roadless regulations.

These regulations, established in 2001, limit logging, mining, oil drilling, and gas extraction on some of the most remote public lands. The Trump administration is looking to lift these restrictions.

The comment period began on Friday, before the Workers’ Holiday weekend, and will conclude on September 19th.

Rollins described the move to withdraw the rules as a “common sense” initiative to eliminate “outdated regulations” that supposedly hinder economic growth in areas adjacent to public lands.

This aligns with an executive order from President Trump aimed at removing what he calls burdensome regulations that stifle American business and innovation.

Conservation groups, which have supported these roadless rules for years, argue that lifting them could threaten wildlife, clean water, recreation, and the integrity of old forests.

Tennessee boasts about 698,000 acres of national forest land, with 85,000 currently protected under present roadless rules. These forests include areas between lakes in northern Tennessee and sections within the extensive Cherokee National Forest, which spans 660,000 acres in southern Appalachia. Notable backcountry locales like Beaver Dam Creek and Elk Creek are included in the protected regions under these rules.