I urge you not to repeal the 2001 Roadless Rule.
Some of my family's most meaningful time outdoors has been spent backpacking around Shealor Lakes in the Eldorado National Forest — country that remains pristine today precisely because this rule has kept it safe from logging, mining, drilling, and road construction. It is where we built community, experienced nature, and slept in a tent under the stars for the first time.
Repeal would also cause concrete harm. Forest roads are a major source of sediment in headwater streams, and roadless areas protect watersheds that supply drinking water to communities across California. And if the goal is better fire management, repeal works against it: most wildfires in California are human-caused, and human ignitions cluster along roads. Building roads into intact backcountry adds ignition sources to terrain that is currently among the least likely to burn.
The Forest Service also cannot maintain the road system it already has. Adding more miles to a backlog measured in billions of dollars is not a serviceable plan.
These lands were preserved and handed down to us, and we have an obligation to pass them on intact. Please keep the Roadless Rule in place.