Trump administration proposes easing oil and gas permitting in national forests

The U.S. Forest Service, an arm of the Department of Agriculture that oversees 192 million acres of national forests and grasslands, released proposed rules that would speed timelines for approving drilling leases and permits and for determining which lands are available to lease.Forest Service officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.The Forest Service first said in 2018 that it planned to rewrite some of its rules to expedite oil and gas permits on forest lands.