I am an avid mountain biker, hiker, runner, and volunteer trail maintainer in the George Washington National Forest. I strongly oppose repealing the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and urge you to keep it fully in place.
I spend countless hours in roadless areas of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests, including Skidmore Fork and Little River, both for recreation and trail maintenance. I see firsthand how these unroaded lands support clean water, healthy wildlife, and high‑quality outdoor experiences that cannot be restored once roads and industrial development arrive.
Clean Water and Fiscal Responsibility
Roadless areas protect headwaters and reservoirs that supply drinking water to communities like Harrisonburg and Staunton. Building new roads and logging steep slopes will increase erosion, sediment, and pollution, raising treatment costs for tens of thousands of people downstream. The Forest Service already faces a multibillion‑dollar road maintenance backlog; adding more roads when existing ones are failing is fiscally irresponsible and guarantees further water quality problems.
Wildlife and Biodiversity
Virginia’s roadless areas hold exceptional biodiversity, including at‑risk species and unique habitats. Roads and industrial logging fragment core habitat, introduce invasive species, and permanently reduce ecosystem quality. Once these wild areas are cut up by roads, they cannot be returned to their current condition on any meaningful human time scale.
Recreation, Hunting, and Local Economies
There is a robust local economy built around outdoor recreation and hunting in these forests. Hikers, runners, mountain bikers, anglers, campers, horseback riders, and hunters come precisely because these lands are wild and undeveloped. They buy gas, food, lodging, gear, and services in nearby communities, providing steady, renewable income. Large-scale logging, mining, and new roadbuilding would degrade scenery, reduce game habitat, fragment hunting grounds, and drive away the visitors these communities rely on. This would be a serious, long‑term blow to surrounding towns in exchange for short‑term extractive gains.
Wildfire Risk and Roads
Most wildfires in Appalachia are human‑caused, and nationally most ignitions occur near roads. Fires are far more likely to start in roaded areas than in roadless tracts. The current Roadless Rule already allows fuel reduction and thinning for legitimate wildfire mitigation. Cutting new roads into these areas will increase human access and ignition risk, not reduce it.
National Interest and Long-Term Stewardship
These roadless lands are national public assets, not just local industrial reserves. The Roadless Rule was adopted because local control alone did not adequately protect them. Public input has consistently and overwhelmingly supported keeping the rule. From my years on the ground, I know how rare large, unroaded areas are in the East and how quickly they can be lost once roads and clearcuts arrive.
For these reasons, I respectfully urge USDA and the Forest Service to:
Withdraw the proposal to repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
Maintain or strengthen protections for existing roadless areas in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests and nationwide.
Focus limited funds on maintaining and right‑sizing the existing road system rather than expanding it.
Prioritize clean water, biodiversity, and recreation‑ and hunting‑based economies in all decisions affecting roadless areas.
Please keep the Roadless Rule in place and protect these irreplaceable public lands—and the communities and economies that depend on them—for current and future generations.