I live in Tuolumne County surrounded by the Stanislaus National Forest. In 2013 the Rim Fire burned directly through our land, destroying 95% of the timber and habitat; happily, our home survived. I know what fire does here, and I do not accept the claim that repealing the Roadless Rule will make us safer. The rule already allows fuel-reduction work near communities, and fires ignite far more often near roads than away from them. Repeal would bring new roads the Forest Service cannot maintain, more ignition points, and logging and mining pressure on the intact watersheds that hold our snowpack and supply our water. Please choose Alternative 1 and keep the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule fully in place (Docket FS-2025-0001). More than 600,000 people said so last year. Listen to them, and to those of us living at the forest's edge.
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.