Dear Secretary Rollins,
I am a wild-spaces user. By winter, I cross-country ski on established trails, USFS trails, BLM trails and Wilderness Study area. I also alpine ski on national forest land at my local ski area.
I strongly oppose the Proposed Rule rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule.
Rolling back the Roadless Rule will open irreplaceable Montana landscapes up to large-scale logging, road construction, and other development that will industrialize our national forests. The Roadless Rule has protected irreplaceable roadless values while permitting fire suppression, fuels mitigation work, trail maintenance, and other forest management activities for the past 25 years. It is a fiscally responsible, environmentally sound, multiple-use management tool.
What we don't know until researchers discoveries is what medical cures may derive from untouched wild places. Think toxil. Taxol (paclitaxel) is a landmark chemotherapy medication originally discovered from the bark of the Pacific yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) that revolutionized cancer treatment according to the National Cancer Institute. In the 1960s, a USDA botanist collected bark samples from the Pacific yew tree in Washington State as part of a joint National Cancer Institute (NCI) and USDA plant screening program. What will we miss for medical breakthroughs if we lose roadless areas?
Please adopt the No Action alternative for the Final Rule.
Sincerely,
Jean Arthur-Sellegren
Montana