We have about 241,000 inventoried roadless acres in our Santa Fe National Forest. Putting in more roads on top of the existing fire breaks and access roads for thinning and prescribed burns would compromise the watershed and damage our water supply. The administration that is proposing to rescind the roadless rule apparently has little understanding of the importance of keeping large sections of forest and watershed untouched and functioning as an ecosystem that both attracts greater rain and snowfall as well as collects it and naturally filters. Without roadless areas staying intact and large, we will damage our water supply and put our forests at risk at drying out and being more fire prone. One of the stated goals of this rescision is to "give local communities "greater control." Good. Local communities will tell this administration exactly why the roadless rule was put into place and just why it is vitally important to keep it as it is.
Also roads are a major wildfire contributor.
The Forest Service should keep the Roadless Rule intact exactly as it is. Do not weaken or repeal this critical policy.
National forests are the heart of our public lands. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects some of the wildest forests we have left, forests that protect critical wildlife habitat and drinking water for millions. Revoking the Roadless Rule puts landscapes, wildlife, and communities at risk.
Not only is the Roadless Rule good policy, it's also wildly popular across the country, with over 600,000 people submitting comments to the US Forest Service last year in support of keeping the rule in place. And more than 20 years ago, the American people overwhelmingly called for our national forests to be protected for future generations. Revoking the Roadless Rule would destroy the natural inheritance we leave for our children.