I strongly oppose the proposed repeal of the 2001 Roadless Rule.
Our national forests are public lands, our shared birthright, and they should be protected for the benefit of everyone, not opened to greater roadbuilding and commercial logging. In West Virginia, the Roadless Rule safeguards treasured places like Roaring Plains, Seneca Creek, Cheat Mountain, Canaan Mountain and Tea Creek, while protecting important buffers around Dolly Sods, Otter Creek and Cranberry.
These wild, unfragmented landscapes provide clean water, wildlife habitat and irreplaceable opportunities for outdoor recreation. Once they are lost, we cannot easily restore them. Please preserve the Roadless Rule and protect our shared public lands for future generations.
While we live in VA , our Family (husband,daughter, son, & myself) has spent countless vacations, all amazing regardless of the weather, hiking, backpacking, & tent camping (sometimes without a tent ) in the wilds of WV, including especially Roaring Plains, Dolly Sods, Cranberry Backcountry, Seneca Creek, Otter Creek, & Laurel Creek Wilderness (>50 yrs). It is our belief all those areas and more continue to need maximum protection from any incursions that in any way would contribute to their fragmentation and the resulting destruction of WV's natural beauty , its native flora & fauna habitats , and the sacred silence that is a vital part of one's experiences in the wild.
Please - in the face of this country's burgeoning development - do not rescind or in any way alter the roadless rule , compromising the holy beauty of WV's mountains, forests, & wild lands. Do not destroy that which can never be restored or replaced. Please ! Keep West Virginia wild & wonderful.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Natalie DeBoer, Mr. Jon DeBoer, Sarah DeBoer, & William DeBoer
Henrico VA 23229
natdebo53@gmail.com
Sincerely,
Natalie DeBoer
8823 Michaux Ln Richmond, VA 23229-6337
natdebo53@gmail.com