To the U.S. Forest Service:
I am writing to express my strong opposition to any efforts to rescind, weaken, or roll back the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Protecting these unfragmented landscapes is deeply personal to me because I live within 30 minutes of many of them in the Pisgah National Forest. I depend on these watersheds for clean drinking water, and I value the pristine wildlife habitats that rolling back this rule will destroy.
These roadless areas:
•Provide clean drinking water to 60 million Americans and store 20% of all carbon in U.S. national forests
•Provide critical habitat for 1,600+ threatened species, which in my area include the Eastern Hellbender and several species of bat
•Contain priceless historical artifacts dating back 1000s of years
•Provide a pristine natural environment for hiking, hunting, and fishing
•Help generate over $200M tourist dollars and support 1160 jobs in Transylvania County alone
New roads and logging will destroy these irreplaceable natural wonders forever and threaten native species while introducing invasive species like the Emerald Ash Borer which now threatens the Canada Hemlock Forest ecosystem within this area.
I urge the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to abandon the proposed rescission and instead maintain full protections for all currently designated inventoried roadless areas.
Sincerely,
James G. Hardy
542 Middle Mount Rd.
Pisgah Forest, NC 28768
828-862-6969