FS-2025-0001-266445

Secretary Rollins, As a resident of Central Oregon, I enjoy recreation in our surrounding National Forests on a daily basis. I spend a lot of my hard earned money on supporting local businesses and our local economy when participating in Mountain Biking, Hiking, Kayaking and Skiing in these National Forests. My local sporting good shops all know me on a first name basis. I strongly oppose the USDA’s proposal to eliminate, alter, or weaken the Roadless Rule, which would reduce protections across 44.7 million acres of public lands managed by the US Forest Service nationwide. The agency should select Alternative 1, the No Action alternative, and leave current roadless protections in place. In Central Oregon, nearly 200,000 acres of Inventoried Roadless Areas in the Deschutes National Forest, Ochoco National Forest, and Crooked River National Grassland have protected wildlife habitat, boosted local economies, and ensured clean drinking water for 25 years. From protecting recreational opportunities in Newberry Caldera, to safeguarding sweeping views atop Lookout Mountain in the Ochocos, to maintaining mule deer and elk migration corridors in the Metolius Basin, the Roadless Rule is vital to our local communities. Rescinding the Roadless Rule is impractical. The USFS already has billions of dollars in deferred maintenance on its existing 370,000+ miles of roads, and this rule rescission will only compound the problem by adding expensive, infrequently used backcountry roads on the taxpayers’ dime. Worse still, in areas like Central Oregon, where the timber industry has been in decline for decades, opening roadless areas to logging will not yield a meaningful economic return. Instead, increasing roads will damage recreation areas, scenic views, and wildlife habitat, and eliminate the core reasons people choose to live, work, and play in Central Oregon. The number of jobs in the outdoor recreation industry and the revenue associated with it are as much as 4x the short term, one time value of resource extraction and the outdoor industry is reoccurring and not limited to the amount of time it takes trees to regrow. Rescinding the Roadless Rule is dangerous. More roads also mean more fires: research shows wildfires are four times more likely to ignite near roads. Fighting those fires in remote areas is dangerous, costly, and diverts resources from protecting communities. More roads will also degrade drinking watersheds. National Forests and Grasslands are the single most important source of municipal water supply in the United States, and Roadless Areas filter drinking water for over 2 million Oregonians. In Central Oregon, the Bend Municipal Watershed begins in the headwaters of Bridge Creek and Tumalo Creek in the Deschutes National Forest. Losing Roadless protections will threaten water quality for fish species and the drinking water supply for more than 100,000 people in Bend, and tens of millions of people across the country. For more than two decades, the Roadless Rule has been a cornerstone of sound forest management, balancing ecological, economic, and cultural values. Weakening or repealing it would be a grave mistake. Both Alternatives 2 and 3 will have severe consequences for wildlife, biodiversity, clean water sources, climate resilience, cultural resources, local economies, outdoor recreation, and the health of our nation's wildest forests. The USDA should abandon this damaging effort and instead strengthen its commitment to protecting the clean water, climate resilience, recreation, and biodiversity that roadless forests provide. I urge the agency to take the No Action alternative and maintain full Roadless Rule protections for America's wild forests.