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I completely and whole-heartedly opposed to the idea of rescinding the Roadless Rule. As someone who lives in Phoenix, AZ, over the years I have watched my city become further urbanized, watching natural desert turn into warehouses and concrete spaces. It has given me nothing but tremendous appreciation for the wilderness every time I am able to be in a forested space. I have been fortunate enough to hike in Tonto National Forest, an area that is partially covered by the Roadless Rule. Witnessing breathtaking nature emphasized to me that the land’s beauty was because it was as intact as possible, which would be lost in repealing this rule.
The roadless rule has been in place for 25 years allowing irreplaceable ecosystems in OUR public lands to thrive
The current administration has recently been proven to prioritize legislation in favor of advancing mining, oil/gas drilling, repealing protections for endangered species. As recently as September 5, the grey wolf and the Mexican wolf have been victims of harmful environmental legislation as seen in an executive order signed by Trump to remove their endangered species protection. In March 14 of this year, Trump also signed an executive order allowing for oil drilling in the state of California. Rescinding the Roadless Rule will only increase the ability to access these areas and orchestrate more harm. Allowing roads, construction, and timber harvest, would threaten habitats, air quality, clean water sources, and our own recreational opportunities in these beautiful outdoor spaces.
One of the claims from those favoring this rule be rescinded is that it will reduce forest fires and make them more manageable, yet 120 current and former firefighters in association with the Wildland Firefighters wrote in an open letter to congress disagreeing with these beliefs. According to them, “The bottom line is that allowing new road-building and more logging in roadless areas will increase the number of fire ignitions in remote and steep terrain... increase firefighter exposure to hazardous suppression efforts with low probabilities of success and pull scarce resources away from the priority of protecting communities.” Studies conducted by Gregory H. Aplet, Phil Hartger, and Matthew S. Dietz, found that “from 1994-2024 in all 8 contiguous-US Forest Service regions combined, wildfire-ignition density was lowest in designated wilderness areas (1.75 fires/1000 hectares), followed closely by Inventoried Roadless Areas (1.97 fires/1000 ha). The highest wildfire-ignition density was in lands within 50 m of roads (7.99 fires/1000 ha).” These are quotes coming from expert studies solidifying the call to protect these lands, not open them up.
Experts, nature enthusiasts, outdoor recreationalists, and community members all agree that these lands are our national treasure and it is our responsibility as citizens to give them their best chance to not only survive, but thrive.