Read the comments.

I am writing as a former wildland firefighter, policy expert, and and lawyer to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural, & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. Returning these decisions to wholly local planning processes should not be treated as a substitute for consistent nationwide protection measurements. As a former wild land firefighter, policy expert, and and lawyer, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiv. Inst.). More roads=more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve community protection, firefighter safety, ecological resilience, and wildlife habitat, & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation, & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Claims that road construction will improve firefighter safety should be supported by a tradeoff analysis of the specific operational conditions under which new roads may provide a potential safety benefit—but also create new safety risks & hazards during suppression operations. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are reasonably foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised under Alt. 2 & 3. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat and connectivity, clean water, invasive species, biodiversity, and firefighter risk. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, traditional gathering areas, and increased unauthorized access. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. Future consultation on individual projects is not an adequate substitute for considering these impacts before a nationwide protection is removed. For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.

I am writing as a environmental advocate, recreationalist, public lands user, and concerned citizen to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural, & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. As a recreationalist and community member, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiv. Inst.). It is clear that more roads mean more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve community protection, firefighter safety, and ecological resilience, & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation, & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Claims that road construction will improve firefighter safety should be supported by a tradeoff analysis of the specific operational conditions under which new roads may provide a potential safety benefit—but also create new safety risks & hazards during suppression operations. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are reasonably foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised under Alt. 2 & 3. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat and connectivity, clean water, soil erosion, invasive species, biodiversity, climate resilience, firefighter risk, and landscape fire restoration. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, traditional gathering areas, cultural forestscapes, and increased unauthorized access. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. Future consultation on individual projects is not an adequate substitute for considering these impacts before a nationwide protection is removed. For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.

I am writing as a recreationalist, public lands user, and concerned citizen to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alt. that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. As a recreationalist and community member, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiv. Inst.). More roads=more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve ecological resilience & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Claims that road construction will improve firefighter safety should be supported by analysis of the specific conditions under which new roads may provide a potential safety benefit—but also create new safety risks & hazards during suppression operations. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are reasonably foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised under Alt. 2 & 3. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat and connectivity, clean water, soil erosion, biodiversity, climate resilience, firefighter risk, and landscape fire restoration. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, traditional gathering areas, cultural forestscapes, increased unauthorized access. Lost trust to continue sharing wisdom gained from generations of forest protection work, and would be a shame to lose all that data if we keep ignoring people who have generous enough to share. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. Future consultation on individual projects is not an adequate substitute for considering these impacts before a nationwide protection is removed. For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.

I am writing as an environmental advocate, concerned citizen, & Long time resident of Skamania County to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. As a community member, Resident of nearby Underwood WA, & a high risk fire area, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiv. Inst.). More roads=more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve community protection, firefighter safety, & ecological resilience, & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation, & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised under Alt. 2 & 3. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat & connectivity, soil erosion, invasive species, biodiversity, climate resilience, & firefighter risk. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful Tribal collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about treaty-reserved resources, traditional gathering areas, cultural forestscapes, & increased unauthorized access. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. As a long time resident of the area near Gifford Pinchot forest, I have witnessed increased fire devastation, pollution, erosion of trails, change in biodiversity, & other devastation entirely due to increased human traffic in this area. Rescinding the roadless rule would be a death blow to the already at-risk wildlife, watershed, forest, & general quality of our beautiful forest. The Gifford Pinchot forest biodiversity is already at risk of human damage, as is the entire Columbia River Gorge, & having lived in the Gorge since 1977 I am witnessing the effects of more human traffic in wildlife areas that were historically remote. Due to the growth of our area, recreational activities, more housing, & more vehicle traffic, the nearby wild lands are suffering. Rescinding the RR would be a death blow. Please do not allow this to happen. For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities. Thank you, Susan Sinclair

I am writing as a recreationalist, public lands user, & concerned citizen to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural, & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. As a recreationalist & community member, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiversity Inst.). It is clear that more roads mean more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve community protection, firefighter safety, & ecological resilience, & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation, & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Claims that road construction will improve firefighter safety should be supported by a tradeoff analysis of the specific operational conditions under which new roads may provide a potential safety benefit—but also create new safety risks & hazards during suppression operations. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are reasonably foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised under Alt. 2 & 3. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat & connectivity, clean water, soil erosion, invasive species, biodiversity, climate resilience, firefighter risk, landscape fire restoration, & pollution. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, traditional gathering areas, cultural forestscapes, increased unauthorized access, & education. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. Future consultation on individual projects is not an adequate substitute for considering these impacts before a nationwide protection is removed. For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the 2001 Roadless Rule under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.

I am writing as a environmental advocate, recreationalist, public lands user, & concerned citizen to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural, & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. As a community member & as someone who works with our natural resources, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiv. Inst.). More roads=more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve community protection, firefighter safety, ecological resilience, Without spreading invasive species, & creating more infrastructure that we cannot maintain, & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are reasonably foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised under Alt. 2 & 3. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat & connectivity, clean water, soil erosion, invasive species, biodiversity, climate resilience, firefighter risk, landscape fire restoration, & The increased costs of maintaining these roads. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, traditional gathering areas, cultural forestscapes, increased unauthorized access, Co-management & the full respect for treaty rights including pre, & informed consent. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. Future consultation on individual projects is not an adequate substitute for considering these impacts before a nationwide protection is removed. Building new infrastructure costs money, maintenance costs money. Any action against the RR is reckless spending For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.

I am writing as a environmental advocate, recreationalist, public lands user, & concerned citizen to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural, & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. As a recreationalist & community member, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. Increased road construction provides additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it also increases opportunities for human-caused ignitions. 96% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiv. Inst.). More roads=more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve firefighter safety & ecological resilience, & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation, & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Claims that road construction will improve firefighter safety should be supported by an analysis of the operational conditions under which new roads may provide a safety benefit—but also create new safety risks & hazards during firefighting operations. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values as a connected & biodiverse forest landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat & connectivity, climate resilience, firefighter risk, & landscape fire restoration. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about treaty-reserved resources & increased unauthorized access. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. You are foolishly endangering not only large swaths of protected public land, but also the very lives of the first responders that will be endangered when these forests inevitably burn. No fuel break will be able to stop the mega fires you will cause by way of your unfathomable mismanagement. For what? A greasy buck. Revenue generating infrastructure. Have some shame. For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.

I am writing as a concerned citizen to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural, & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. As a wildland firefighter, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiv. Inst.). More roads=more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve community protection, firefighter safety, ecological resilience, & Treaty obligations with Sovereign Nations & Tribes, & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation, & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Claims that road construction will improve firefighter safety should be supported by a tradeoff analysis of the specific operational conditions under which new roads may provide a potential safety benefit—but also create new safety risks & hazards during suppression operations. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are reasonably foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised. I am particularly concerned about clean water, biodiversity, landscape fire restoration, & Spiritual/physical stewardship of Native sacred sites. sacred. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, traditional gathering areas, cultural forestscapes, increased unauthorized access, & Honor the Treaties & Land Back. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. Future consultation on individual projects is not an adequate substitute for considering these impacts before a nationwide protection is removed. For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.

I am writing as a environmental advocate, recreationalist, public lands user, and concerned citizen to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural, & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. As a recreationalist, community member, and Environmental policy specialist, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiversity Inst.). More roads=more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation, & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Claims that road construction will improve firefighter safety should be supported by a tradeoff analysis of the specific operational conditions under which new roads may provide a potential safety benefit—but also create new safety risks & hazards during suppression operations. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are reasonably foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat and connectivity, clean water, soil erosion, biodiversity, climate resilience, firefighter risk, and landscape fire restoration. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, traditional gathering areas, cultural forestscapes, and increased unauthorized access. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. Future consultation on individual projects is not an adequate substitute for considering these impacts before a nationwide protection is removed. Americans have overwhelmingly supported the RR over & over again. This greed fueled land grab is counter to public will, science, and harms our present & future. Just stop it. We have had enough of this Administration's evil plans For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.

I am writing as a public lands user to oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RR). I urge the Forest Service (FS) to retain the current RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission under Alt. 2 & any alternative that substantially weakens protections. The DEIS stated purpose of the proposed rescission emphasizes greater local decision-making authority in forest planning processes. Yet, the original RR was established in part due to the failure of local forest planning process to maintain ecological, cultural, & public values of roadless areas to an adequate level. As a community member, I am concerned about the claim that removing the RR is necessary to reduce wildfire risk & that putting these forests under local control would have little adverse impact on the ability to protect their values as undeveloped wildlands. The DEIS recognizes that increased road construction can provide additional opportunities for wildfire response & fuels management, but it can also increase opportunities for unplanned human-caused ignitions. 96.2% of fires start within 800m of a road (Pacific Biodiv. Inst.). More roads=more fires. Wildfire risk reduction should not be used as a blanket justification for expanding roads & resource extraction into millions of acres of roadless wildlands. Effective fire management should prioritize strategic, science-based, site-specific treatments where they meaningfully protect communities & firefighters, rather than broadly removing protections from remote landscapes. I urge the FS to explain how proposed road construction or vegetation management would demonstrably improve community protection, & to fully account for the increased ignition risks & long-term maintenance burdens associated with new roads. The agency should also disclose & analyze the potential for new roads to increase suppression complexity, vehicle hazards, traffic congestion, emergency evacuation challenges, invasive vegetation, & future human-caused wildfire ignitions. Claims that road construction will improve firefighter safety should be supported by a tradeoff analysis of the specific operational conditions under which new roads may provide a potential safety benefit—but also create new safety risks & hazards during suppression operations. Roadless areas provide some of the largest remaining undeveloped landscapes in the National Forest System (NFS). Removing nationwide protections could increase opportunities for road construction & logging, mining, & drilling, with impacts degrading wildlife habitat, connectivity, water, soils, biodiversity, recreation, & other ecological values. The RR was initially implemented to protect the ecological values of these forests as a connected & biodiverse landscape that local control could not account for. The DEIS acknowledges that more road construction & timber harvest are reasonably foreseeable if the RR is rescinded or revised under Alt. 2 & 3. I am particularly concerned about wildlife habitat and connectivity, clean water, biodiversity, climate resilience, and firefighter risk. The FS should not rely solely on future, site-specific project reviews to protect these values. Once nationwide protections are removed, individual decisions may fail to account for the cumulative loss & fragmentation of roadless landscapes across the NFS. The DEIS recognizes that additional road construction & timber harvesting could have long-term negative effects on Tribal rights & interests, including impacts to treaty-reserved resources, sacred sites, ancestral trails, & other culturally significant areas. I urge the FS to ensure meaningful government-to-government collaboration & to fully incorporate Tribal knowledge & concerns before any decision is made to remove protections. Regarding Indigenous sovereignty, I am particularly concerned about sacred sites, treaty-reserved resources, and traditional gathering areas. New roads can also increase physical access to areas that have previously remained relatively protected from unauthorized entry, human-caused disturbance, & resource extraction. These consequences should be considered alongside direct impacts to culturally significant places & treaty-reserved resources. Future consultation on individual projects is not an adequate substitute for considering these impacts before a nationwide protection is removed. Given the clear risks from climate change, roadless areas are crucial for climate resiliency for both human communities and wildlife. The FF should be designating more roadless areas not less and strengthening the RR instead weakening it. For these reasons, I urge the FS to retain the RR under Alt. 1 & reject the proposed nationwide rescission, ensuring that wildfire policy is grounded in operational reality, ecological integrity, Tribal knowledge & rights, & the long-term safety of firefighters & communities.