The federal Roadless Area Conservation Rule has been in place since 2001, but is under threat. In August, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced her agency’s plans to rescind the rule “in its entirety.”

The roadless rule currently prohibits road construction, logging and mining on about 30% of the nearly 200 million acres of land managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The rule mostly applies to forested areas of the West, but a unique area in the White Mountains along the border of Maine and New Hampshire could have its landscape changed.

In Episode 50, Maine Morning Star reporter Kaitlyn Budion discusses the concerns of New England conservationists who think the rollback of the roadless rule would hurt one of the few unbroken stretches of wilderness in New England.

You’ll also get a weekly news wrap-up from Evening Wrap newsletter writer, Danielle Gaines and Daybreak newsletter writer Madyson Fitzgerald. They’ve got you covered with the latest on: North Dakota’s stripping wells, candidate debates and early voting trends.

Episode produced and edited by Mallory Cheng. Music for Stories From The States composed by David Singer.

Click here for the full transcript.

Relevant reading from States Newsroom outlets and partners:

• Unique stretch of New England forest under threat after proposed rollback of roadless rule (Maine Morning Star)
• ‘Quiet loud nature’: New Mexico opponents of Roadless Rule repeal describe fear of lost solitude (Source NM)
• Conservationists want Congress to do more to protect New England’s roadless areas (New Hampshire Bulletin)
• Trump administration plan could bring new roads to pristine woods covering 4% of Wyoming (WyoFile)
• U.S. Department of Agriculture Proposes Eliminating the Roadless Rule (Pew Charitable Trusts)

Got questions? An episode idea? Email us at podcast@statesnewsroom.com

Photo: Jeff Swayze, a mental health counselor and registered New Hampshire guide, stands in a stream bed along the Wheeler Brook trail in Maine. The area is currently protected from development by the federal roadless rule. (Photo by Kaitlyn Budion/Maine Morning Star)

All Utah voters have automatically received a mail ballot since 2020. The reliably red state had championed universal mail voting. However, with voting under greater national scrutiny, Utah legislators rolled back universal mail voting.

Although he’s recently urged voters to cast their ballots by mail, President Donald Trump has long attacked mail voting, claiming without evidence that it is a source of election fraud.

Utah Republican Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, the state’s top election official, has recently spoken out about concerns over the Trump administration’s ‘gamesmanship’ with voting, saying it keeps her up at night. Democratic Salt Lake County Clerk Lannie Chapman says those same fears have woken her up at 3 a.m. in a panic.

In Episode 49, you’ll hear from Chapman, whose office serves a third of Utah’s total voting population. According to Chapman, 90% of people who participate in any given election in the county use their mail ballot. Her priority each election is to have safe and accessible voting, and the 2026 midterms are no different.

You’ll also get a weekly news wrap-up from Evening Wrap newsletter writer, Danielle Gaines and Daybreak newsletter writer Madyson Fitzgerald. They’ve got you covered with the latest on: dyed diesel, the battle between the federal government and New Mexico over a border wall and this week's political developments.

Episode produced and edited by Mallory Cheng. Music for Stories From The States composed by David Singer.

Click here for the full transcript.

Relevant reading from States Newsroom outlets and partners:

• As early in-person voting approaches, North Carolina election officials seek to ease fears (NC Newsline)
• Trump drops longtime aversion to mail-in voting with GOP trailing in polls (States Newsroom D.C Bureau)
• How election deniers are using public records to sow doubt in California (CalMatters)
• Gen Z politicians who want to make a change grapple with parties that aren’t always ready for them (Kansas Reflector and The 19th)

Got questions? An episode idea? Email us at podcast@statesnewsroom.com

Photo: Elections workers process ballots at the Salt Lake County Government Center in Salt Lake City on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Despite a hard push by Republicans to bolster their chances of retaining control in Washington by redrawing congressional districts to the party’s advantage, Democrats are in a good position to gain several seats in the U.S. House in November.

And which party controls the U.S. Senate after January is now a true toss-up, according to The Cook Political Report.

Historically, the party that's out of power picks up seats in the midterm cycle.

In Episode 48, you’ll hear from Erin Covey, who leads The Cook Political Report's coverage of the U.S. House of Representatives. Cook’s analysts have recently moved 15 House races in the Democrats’ direction, and say it’s realistic that the party could also take a majority in the U.S. Senate amid a worsening political environment for the GOP.

Covey is keeping an eye on U.S. House races in Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, along with the Senate races in Alaska, Iowa, Ohio and Texas.

You’ll also get a weekly news wrap-up from Evening Wrap newsletter writer, Danielle Gaines and Daybreak newsletter writer Madyson Fitzgerald. They’ve got you covered with the latest on: data centers on federal land, states bolstering election safety and astronauts encouraging young people to vote.

Episode produced and edited by Mallory Cheng. Music for Stories From The States composed by David Singer.

Click here for the full transcript.

Relevant reading from States Newsroom outlets and partners:

• GOP’s ‘rubberstamp’ of Trump puts US Senate in play, Dem campaign chair says (States Newsroom D.C. Bureau)
• Gen Z isn’t choosing a side. They’re choosing issues. (Maine Morning Star)
• A New York Times article claimed hostility by Mary Peltola. Will it affect Alaska’s Senate race? (Alaska Beacon)
• Despite redistricting, Ohio Democrats eager to flip congressional seats (Ohio Capital Journal)

Got questions? An episode idea? Email us at podcast@statesnewsroom.com

Photo: Voters will decide this November who will have control in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate. (Photo by Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)