FS-2025-0001-498006

FS-2025-0001-223869 - Maintain protections for roadless areas The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule conserves over 58 million acres of multiple-use public lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service that provide some of the best places to hike, run, backpack, camp, hunt, and fish in America. Repealing safeguards afforded by the Roadless Rule will jeopardize intact wilderness recreation areas, as well as fish and wildlife habitat. Therefore, I urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture to uphold strong protections for all roadless areas. Across the country, roadless areas provide irreplaceable habitat for native trout and salmon, big game, and other wildlife, such as our beloved Eastern Hellbender, one of only three giant salamanders found in the world. It is a North Carolina state-listed species of special concern. Because hellbenders are a protected species, it is illegal to kill, harm, collect, harass or sell them. The hellbender also is a Species of Greatest Conservation Need in the North Carolina Wildlife Action Plan. As residents of Asheville in Western North Carolina, my spouse and I, as well as our friends and family, are very active, adventurous, outdoorsmen and women. It is a primary reason for settling in such a beautiful and remote part of the Southeastern United States. It is key to our region’s economy due to the proximity of these natural, pristine wilderness areas to Asheville, Hendersonville, Brevard, Boone, and other beautiful cities in our part of the country. Moreover, I am a proud Disabled Army Veteran who holds exploring and testing oneself in the great outdoors in the highest regard as a rugged individualist American in a country that has become too soft and familiar with all that is sedentary and comfortable in cities and suburbs that do not understand the importance of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. We take hiking, running, backpacking, camping, fishing, and hunting in Western North Carolina’s 172,000 protected roadless acres in the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests very seriously. We will not forget and we will advocate with all our might to vote against those politicians and to remove those administration appointees who act to strip protections from pristine Roadless Areas we regularly visit such as Craggy Mountain northeast of Asheville, Cheoah Bald and the Appalachian Trail south of Stecoah Valley, and our most prized local area, the South Mills River roadless tract in the Pisgah Ranger District, stretching from near the Blue Ridge Parkway down toward the Cradle of Forestry. The 2001 Roadless Rule generally prohibits new road construction and industrial logging, while at the same time keeping these public lands open to habitat improvement projects, hazardous fuels reduction, hunting, fishing, OHV riding, firewood cutting, grazing, hiking, running, backpacking, and camping. The 2001 Roadless Rule already allows for balanced forest management, including timber harvest, to reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire, as well as to restore habitat for sensitive fish and wildlife species. Importantly, hazardous fuels treatments in roadless areas are commonplace, helping protect at-risk communities and restoring forest health. If rescinded, new road construction and associated industrial-scale logging will fragment fish and wildlife habitat, degrade water quality and quantity, and reduce backcountry hiking, running, backpacking, camping, hunting, and fishing opportunities on public lands. There are 370,000 miles of roads in the National Forest System with a maintenance backlog of approximately $10.8 billion, 55% of which is due to dilapidated roads that cause sedimentation and erosion that reduce water quality, create barriers to fish migration, and create public safety hazards. We need to take care of the roads we already have, not add more roads that we don’t have the funding or personnel to maintain. Roadless areas provide some of the best hiking, running, backpacking, and camping areas, fish and wildlife habitat, and hunting and angling opportunities for Americans of all walks of life, from all areas of the country. I strongly support maintaining protections for all roadless areas and keeping these public lands a great place to hike, run, backpack, camp, hunt, and fish. We are paying attention. We won't tolerate elected officials or political appointees who undermine our shared American legacy of public lands. We will remember all those strong, courageous American leaders who champion public lands and listen to the loud voice of strong American people. Be a courageous leader of rugged Americans, not a pusillanimous one susceptible to capitulation when pressured. Thank you for your service to our country and attention to this important issue.