As a child growing up in the south, I spent a lot of time exploring the wilderness of Appalachia, including Cherokee National Forest. My family has spent extensive time enjoying these wildlands every Summer for the last 25 years — my entire life. We’ve hosted extended family reunions in the mountains
of Gatlinburg, TN many times. Being able to share the land I grew up in with my friends, cousins, and their children is an experience unlike any other. Seeing the joy and awe on their faces as they watch a bobcat meander along the tree line or a family of elk stop to drink from a creek in which we cool off is
nothing short of magical.
With the repeal of this Rule, the very land on which these memories were made is at great risk, including thousands of acres of Cherokee National Forest. Mary O’Malley, your public affairs specialist, in a statement to WBIR-TV Knoxville, TN, stated that the rescission aims to improve access to wildfires
for professionals. According to Kristin Gendzier, a Senior Attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center, however, wildfires are more likely near roads. In fact, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (ELMS Project #302690) published in August of this year by the Forest Service states that ignition
density is four times greater on Forest Service lands other than Inventoried Roadless Areas. It also states that exceptions already exist within the Rule for “public health and safety” and to “prevent resource damage or address safety hazards.”
In addition, the Forest Service’s August 18th Press Release refers to four Executive Orders, three of which clearly call for profit at the expense of our wildlands as according to the Federal Register: Executive Order 14225 (Immediate Expansion of Timber Production), Executive Order 14154 (Unleashing American Energy), and Executive Order 14153 (Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential). During the Release, Montana Governor Greg Gianforte called upon the restoration of “common sense” to active forest management. Common sense, however, allows one to see that this rescission, as do the Executive Orders, have ulterior motive: to subject our forested land to destruction in the name of profit.
Again, I urge the Forest Service to reconsider the rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule. Preserve the tenets of the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, especially the Rule of Law. Hear the people and speak for us.