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I oppose the rollback of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. For more than two decades, this rule has protected much of the wildness that remains in our national forests. The protections have been particularly vital in the Midwest, where less than 200,000 acres of roadless, untrammeled forest lands survived the widespread logging of the past two centuries. Shawnee National Forest is a particular gem with amazing landscape and biodiversity in a state that is mostly midwestern flat. It’s a place of quiet and beauty for those who need to touch base with nature after negotiating life in a hectic world. My visit there found people from Illinois and beyond of all ages and interests enjoying the National forest. This means these pristine lands are drawing tourist dollars and creating economic value - without adding more roads. I urge you to stop rolling back protections for our public lands and leave our last wild forests intact. Please keep the Roadless Rule in place. Sincerely, Ms. Kristin Faust 1444 S Federal St Unit H Chicago, IL 60605-3059 kfaust1960@aol.com

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to express my vehement opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Forest Service proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. For twenty-five years, the Roadless Rule has provided a vital bedrock of protection for our nation's last remaining wildlands. Stripping these protections to prioritize industrial logging and road building under the guise of "local management flexibility" is short-sighted and ecologically disastrous. Crucially, the Forest Service has failed to adequately address how removing nationwide protections will result in severe, systemic violations of the Clean Water Act (CWA) and accelerate ecological degradation in vulnerable, fragmented ecosystems.1. Failure to Prevent Severe Degradation of Designated Uses (CWA Section 303) Under Section 303 of the Clean Water Act, states establish water quality standards based on the "designated uses" of a water body—such as drinking water supply, cold-water fisheries, and recreation. Inventoried Roadless Areas (IRAs) encompass the headwaters of countless pristine streams that supply clean drinking water to millions of Americans. The Impact: Introducing road construction and clear-cutting into these fragile headwaters will cause immediate, severe soil erosion. The resultant massive influx of silt, sediment, and industrial debris will directly choke out cold-water aquatic habitats, violating state anti-degradation policies and destroying municipal water source standards.2. Unregulated Nonpoint Source Pollution (CWA Section 319)Forest roads are well-documented by science as the primary source of human-caused sediment pollution in national forests.The Impact: Roads fundamentally alter natural hydrology. They intercept subsurface water flow, accelerate surface runoff, and act as direct conduits for sediment, heavy metals, and petrochemicals into nearby streams. By removing the 2001 prohibition, the Forest Service will trigger an unmanageable surge in nonpoint source pollution, actively undermining state management programs funded and mandated under Section 319 of the CWA to control runoff.3. Regional Focus: Irreparable Harm to the Shawnee National Forest (Illinois)The proposed rescission will have devastating, irreversible impacts on fragmented Eastern forests like the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. Severe Sedimentation in Critical Watersheds: The topography of southern Illinois features highly erodible loess soils on steep slopes. Removing roadless protections will greenlight heavy machinery and logging road construction that will trigger severe soil erosion. This runoff will rapidly impair critical local watersheds—including the Belle Smith Springs and Morris Creek areas—violating state anti-degradation standards under the Clean Water Act. Microclimate Disruption and Rising Soil Temperatures: Industrial logging removes the protective overhead canopy, exposing the forest floor to direct solar radiation. In southern Illinois's increasingly hot summer climate, this canopy loss will cause a severe spike in soil temperatures and a drastic reduction in soil moisture. High soil temperatures directly compromise the forest's ability to filter water, accelerating the degradation of local aquatic ecosystems. Compounding Wildfire Risks: The combination of decreased soil moisture, desiccated forest floors, and the introduction of dry, highly combustible logging slash creates a powder keg. By carving new road corridors into the forest, the agency introduces fresh vectors for human-caused ignitions, significantly elevating the risk of catastrophic wildfire in a region adjacent to rural communities. Threats to Protected Species: Stripping nationwide roadless protections removes a critical legal backstop, leaving fragile habitats—including the oak-hickory forests and endangered Indiana bat roosting areas—vulnerable to piecemeal industrial exploitation without proper cumulative impact analysis. Conclusion and Action Requested The Forest Service already faces a massive multi-billion-dollar backlog in maintaining its existing 370,000 miles of roads. Adding more roads will only worsen water pollution, elevate wildfire risks, and fragment critical habitats. Before taking any final action, the USDA must: Conduct a rigorous, granular environmental analysis mapping the exact water quality impacts on downstream communities. Formally guarantee that no pristine watershed or CWA-protected water body will experience degraded water quality. Withdraw this proposed rule entirely and permanently uphold the protections of the 2001 Roadless Rule. Thank you for considering these substantive comments. Sincerely,[ GLENN DAVID MCLERNON ILLINOIS REGISTERED LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT/LANDSCAPE ECOLOGIST MURPHYSBORO, IL 62966 MCLERNONGLENN@MSN.COM