The Trump administration's plan to repeal a rule prohibiting logging and road construction in undeveloped parts of national forests would strip protection for more than 4 million acres within California's borders.

It's called the roadless rule, and in June, President Trump's Secretary of Agriculture announced plans to rescind the Clinton-era rule to allow for fire prevention and responsible timber production on more than 58 million acres of national forests.

At stake are the roadless reaches of wild areas throughout the state, from dense coastal forests in the far north to alpine conifer forests in the Sierra Nevada to Southern California's great expanses of brush, but experts are divided about whether allowing road development and timber harvest in national forests will help prevent wildfires.

Roads can aid in firefighting and fuel reduction and serve as firebreak, but roads can also mean more people, and people mean more sparks that can ignite wildfires.

Some experts say timber harvests may not reduce fire severity because they can promote growth of more flammable fuels in forests.

These roadless areas are considered important for providing habitat for more than 200 threatened or endangered species of wildlife, including owls, salmon, and frogs, and for protecting vital watersheds.

Conservationists call rescinding the rule a ploy to unleash more logging by an administration that called for an immediate expansion of American timber production and ordered drastic cuts to the very agencies that study and fight fires.

The Department of Agriculture has not said how it plans to rescind the rule or how long the effort is expected to take.

Reversing federal rules is usually a long process requiring publication in the Federal Register and a lengthy public comment period.

The Agriculture Department did not respond to an inquiry from CalMatters.

For CalMatters, I'm Rachel Becker.