“I am in opposition to the removal of the Roadless Rule. I am a resident of North Carolina and I cherish our…”

I am in opposition to the removal of the Roadless Rule. I am a resident of North Carolina and I cherish our National Forest lands. I have hiked and camped in the Nantahala National Forest, the George Washington National Forest, and Uwharrie National Forest. I plan to continue doing so. I live in Siler City and being able to drive 1-3 hours to natural lands is part of what makes me love North Carolina. I am also a strong believer in conserving the nature and wildlife, both animals and plants, that thrive within our national forests and do not wish to see their habitats diminished. The beauty and recreational value of these lands is in part due to the minimization of habitat fragmentation that the Roadless Rule allows. I do not want to see our public lands diminished in value by additional roads and timber harvesting. When I researched the roadless rule I found that it was originally implemented for economic reasons. The backlog of road maintenance in national forests was so large that it did not make sense to build more roads. That reason is still valid today. The current backlog of forest service roads is 6.9 billion dollars. As a taxpayer, it does not make sense to me to build more roads when the backlog of maintenance for existing forest service roads is so large.