The Roadless Rule is critical to protect the remaining wilderness here in North Dakota. In the early 1970s, five hundred thousand acres on the Dakota Prairie Grasslands’ western-most Little Missouri National Grassland unit qualified for Wilderness designation. With the signing in July 2002 of the current Land and Resource Management Plan for the Dakota Prairie Grasslands, less than 40,000 acres are managed by the Forest Service as “Suitable for Wilderness.” Undeveloped wild land is disappearing – fast.
The Dakota Prairie Grasslands contain some of the most important remaining blocks of undeveloped public habitat in the state, including roadless areas within the Little Missouri National Grassland. We need to retain these intact wild places. Roadless areas do not prevent raising cattle, hunting, hiking, and camping but enhance those experiences.
Leaving the roadless rules as they are can maintain this environment in North Dakota, and nationwide for generations to come.