Read the comments.

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.The Roadless Area Conservation Rule is essential! We have already done away with too many of our forests and other wild areas! Those forests provide the transition of carbon dioxide into oxygen that the planet—and humans—need to survive! Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.Kristyn Reidtiming.betas-0z@icloud.com15680 Leslie RdChoctaw, Oklahoma 73020

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,The roadless rule is incredibly important for preserving the remaining 'wilderness' areas as a legacy to present and future generations. Removing or weakening this rule will lead to opportunistic damages to currently designated 'wilderness' areas which must not happen.Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.Joseph's h R Miramontijmonti@aol.com51 Brookston Dr UNIT A2Schaumburg , Illinois 60193-5235

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,You know all of the legal, tribal, public opinion, and existential reasons to maintain the Roadless Rule. I won't remind you of them. I will remind you to have a conscience and some personal integrity to bolster up your obligation to protect our forests.Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.Karen Toledotoledokr@gmail.compo box 22Wetmore, Michigan 49895

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,My husband and I, our extended families, many of our friends, we all enjoy camping, hiking, fishing, star gazing at our national parks. Nature is nurturing. Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.Carolyn Cruzcbcruz@me.com4020 WEST 5TH STREETFORT WORTH, Texas 76107

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,I WANT THE FOREST SERVICE TO KEEP THE ROADLESS RULE. IT HAS PROTECTED AND PRESERVED OUR WILD PUBLIC LANDS VERY SUCCESSFULLY FOR MANY YEARS. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO WEAKEN OR MAKE ANY CHANGES TO THE LAW. LEAVE IT ALONE!!! Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.JoEllen Rudolphjobeenviro@gmail.com09799 Townline RdPetoskey, Michigan 49770

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.Paul Brunsonpbrunson1947@gmail.com8465 Moore Ct., Arvada, CO 80005-4722, Arvada, CO 80005-4722, Arvada, CO 80005-4722, Arvada, CO 80005-4722, Arvada, CO 80005-4722Arvada, Colorado 80005

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.More roads create MORE FIRES! Campfires, cigarette butts thrown out, and overheated car engines sending sparks igniting dry grass!!!Merlene Smithsilversmith194104@gmail.com3975 Superior Dr NW. Apt 1023Rochester , Minnesota 55901

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,I want to know and trust that our land and environment are safe from those who use and abuse them.Prosecute all who are destroying our earth and make sure that bad people are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.Sue Biedermansue.b.planko@gmail.com1509 Matterhorn Dr NECedar Rapids, Iowa 52402-3354

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,PLEASE KEEP THE ROADLESS ACT OF 2001 IN TACT! THIS PRISTINE AREA WILL NOT SURVIVE MORE CORPORATE AND ELITE DAMAGE. THIS LAND BELONGS TO "ALL" THE PEOPLE AND OUR FUTURE CHILDREN!!Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.SINCERELY,PAMELA M HOLMAN Pamela M Holmanpmvajner2019@gmail.com2743 Grand BlvdLake Station, Indiana 46405

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.Please do not rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.As a Native American of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma, this is very important to me and my family. Please support tribal sovereignty and protect Mother Earth. Respectfully, Norman Duane BigEagle, Petaluma, CA.Norman BigEaglebigeagle@sonic.net3640 Spring Hill Road Petaluma , California 94952

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,Last year, more than 625,000 people from across the United States wrote to the USDA, urging the agency to keep the bipartisan 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which protects our forests from wildfires and corporate exploitation.I AM BEGGING YOU TO NOT rescind the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Secretary Rollins. Allowing road construction and logging in these forests will destroy areas crucial to Native Tribes’ spirituality, culture, identity, and survival. These forests provide clean drinking water for more than 60 million U.S. residents and are crucial ecosystems for the wildlife that Tribal Nations depend on. LETTING COMPANIES LOG WOULD LET THE PEOPLE KNOW THAT YOUR VALUES ARE NOT IN THE PEOPLE WHO PAY TAXES FOR YOU TO SERVE THEM IN RETURN.The U.S. federal government has legal obligations to Tribes, including engaging in early and meaningful government-to-government consultation before making decisions about ancestral Tribal homelands. If you take this step to rescind the Roadless Rule, you will violate Tribal sovereignty and therefore the U.S. Constitution. In your own draft environmental impact statement, the federal government incorrectly claims that rescinding the Roadless Rule is a solution to the wildfire crisis. But fires don’t start without cause, and the U.S. Forest Service itself has stated that 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people. In fact, fires are four times more likely to start near a road due to cigarettes thrown from car windows, abandoned camp fires, and hot under-carriages of cars igniting tall dry grass.Over the years, many Tribes have spoken out against repealing or making exceptions to the Roadless Rule. Many have done so in the past year, so I’m writing to lift up their voices and urge you to fulfill your obligations to them. The Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska wrote: “The Tongass is more than an ecosystem -- it is our home. It is the foundation of our identity, our culture, and our way of life.” They explained that this step took place “without any prior consultation with our Tribe or other Southeast Alaska tribes” and called on the USDA to “suspend this decision until meaningful consultation is held with tribal nations, as required under federal law and trust obligations.”Gloria Burns, the President of the Ketchikan Indian Community in Alaska said: “We the people of Kichxáan are the Tongass. You cannot separate us from the land… This is an attack on Tribes and our people who depend on the land to eat. The federal government must act and provide us the safeguards we need or leave our home roadless… Without our lungs (the Tongass) we cannot breathe life into our future generations.”The President of the Organized Village of Kake in Alaska explained: “The remaining old growth timber is so important for providing shelter, the berries, and our medicines. It provides shade for our streams to keep them cool so our salmon can return year after year. We are the people of the forest and salmon people. Salmon has sustained us for thousands of years.” His Tribe also hunts deer and moose, which are rebounding after past clear-cut logging.And the President of the Organized Village of Kasaan in Alaska wrote: “The Roadless Rule has worked well for our Tribe and our community by helping to protect customary and traditional uses of our lands and waters, and the fish, wildlife, trees and plants. This helps us honor our ancestors and provide for current and future generations. It would be a grave mistake to roll back these protections. The Roadless Rule must continue to be upheld across the Tongass National Forest.”Please keep the 2001 Roadless Rule. If you want to make any changes, please meaningfully engage in decision-making with sovereign Tribal Nations, in order to honor your constitutional, trust, and treaty obligations to Tribes.May the fear of God strike you and any potential evildoings down.Catherine Pakcathrinpak@gmail.com12823 Poplar Creek DriveFairfax, Virginia 22033