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.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. Earth can live without people. It cannot survive without trees.Dr. William Burgess Leavenworth, Ph.D.,Retired Environmental Historian & Mariner,Searsmont, Maine 04973William Leavenworthwilliamleavenworth@gmail.com198 Pond Road,Searsmont, Maine 04973

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.ONCE THESE PRISTINE LANDS ARE DESTROYED BY HUMAN ACTIVITY . PLEASE DO NOT DEPRIVE FUTURE GENERATIONS OF THE BENEFITS OF KEEPING THESE LANDS SAFE FROM THE DESTRUCTION OF OPENING THEM UP TO HUMAN DEGRADATIONS.Francine Buckleyfranbg3@yahoo.com211 Meadow Tree Farm Rd.Saunderstown, Rhode Island 02874

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. You don’t have the right to do this.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. Note we are not asking for no change at all. Why do you think this rule was made? What’s your motivation? People are asking that.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 kof 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.Denise OMEARAdeniseomeara081@gmail.com276 Linwood Ave, 88Buffalo, New York 14209

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.WE MUST preserve what natural areas we have left, they are the Earth's lungs and they are also home to many different species if living beings God created for Us to take care of! STOP DESTROYING...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.d'Anne MacNeilgoofyme@cox.net1718 S Longmore Unit 4Mesa, Arizona 85202

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.Our National forests are a public assets, not a short term profit to a chosen few! Stop taking the peoples tresures and trying to turn them into corporate profits!Bill Hoffersunengser@gmail.com420 SE Wyers StWhite Salmon, Washington 98672-0070

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.What you plan to do doesn't make sense. More trees, less destruction. The planet is racing towards disaster, the sixth extinction of all species on planet earth. That means you too. All of us.Charles Millermill8char@yahoo.com356 Creekside DrVernon Hills, Illinois 60061

Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation Public Comment,Keep roads out of fragile ecological treasures! These lands belong to the public, NOT any industry! Please do your official job and protect and preserve our public lands and National Parks! 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.Helen Hayneshayneshk@gmail.com1170 Chaddwyck Dr.Athens, Georgia 30606

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. Opening these areas to roads that are easily accessible greatly increases the likelihood of massive fires whether accidental or intentional arsons! This is no way to intelligently husband our important and necessary resources!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.Valerie Carrickbona.parte0916@gmail.com864 W. Yale St. Ontario, California 91762

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.To ignore the truth and good scientific practice for unsustainable short term profit, that has been proven beyond any sober doubt to be the destruction of all American future generations, is the definition of unsophisticated hubris. And should not be carried out by any authority what so ever. Robert Essmanmungwha@gmail.com14 Alton RdStamford, Connecticut 6906

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. The argument that the roads will make it easier to fight fire doesn't hold water. The access that the roads themselves would provide make the forests more prone to wildfires because they increase human interaction.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.Lisa Livelybrooksllivelyb@gmail.com25690 Wolf Creek RdVeneta, Oregon 97487

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. Forest help provide oxygen as well as beauty for humans and wildlife, once destroyed it takes generations to be regenerated. Why destroy protected land that benefits many for the greed of a few? Please decide wisely. Rica Bakotichxolorb5@gmail.com322 W 5th StAberdeen, Washington 98520-3302