To the USDA Roadless Rule Rulemaking Team:
I currently live in the rainforest in Washington State, and grew up in rural West Virginia near the Monongahela National Forest. With the time I’ve spent in my home in the forest and in the backcountry, I know what the roadless rule is, what it protects, and what it prevents. This rule was hard-won, and created from the practical need to protect lands that are invaluable to our watershed, air quality, and health. This rule matters, and it should remain intact.
One of my favorite areas to visit is Glacier Peak in northern Washington — which is currently protected under the roadless rule. The magic of this natural area is clearly preserved by the limit on roads in the area. The work, time, and emersion in nature it takes to get into the Glacier Peak wilderness is what keeps me coming back.
My first time on the Pacific Crest Trail many years ago — far from any roads and only accessible by trail, I remember cresting a ridge to be surrounded by volcanos! I could see Mt St Helens, Mt Adams, Mt Rainer, and Mt Hood in the vista around me.
If this rule is receded, these beautiful, rich, and biodiverse places are put at great risk for development, logging, increased wildfire risk, and watershed degradation. Bulldozed roadbeds would be the end of our excursions into the backcountry.
Regarding the Glacier Peak I in the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, Washington:
The U.S. National Forests are the headwaters of our great rivers and the largest source of municipal water supply in the nation. According to DellaSala (2011), national forests supply drinking water to at least 124 million people in more than 3,400 communities across 33 states—roughly a third of all national-forest runoff originates in inventoried roadless areas. Roads are a major cause of water pollution: erosion rates from logging roads have been documented as much as 850% higher than from undisturbed forest. Because the 2001 Roadless Rule protects these headwaters, it is vital for maintaining clean drinking water for communities across the country. Major U.S. cities including Los Angeles, Portland, Denver, and Atlanta receive a significant portion of their water supply from national forests.
“Analysis of 32 years of wildfire data across all eight contiguous-U.S. Forest Service regions found wildfire-ignition density was 7.99 fires per 1,000 hectares within 50 meters of roads versus just 1.97 fires per 1,000 hectares in inventoried roadless areas—a fourfold difference. Ignition density decreased steadily as distance from roads increased, irrespective of designation. The study concludes that "building roads into roadless areas is likely to result in more fires." — Aplet et al., 2026 (https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-026-00450-2)”
“Comparing fire severity across forests under different protection regimes, the study found forests with higher levels of protection had lower severity values even though they are generally identified as having the highest overall levels of biomass and fuel loading. The result contradicts the claim that protected, intact forests are more dangerous fire risks. — Bradley et al., 2016 (https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.1492)”
“National monitoring analysis using ~20 years of data found forests in roadless areas burned at similar frequencies as roaded areas. Claims that road prohibitions harm forest health are not supported by evidence. — Healey, 2020 (https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aba031)”
The rule works. The public wants it. Keep it.
Thank you,
Briana McElfish
CommentID: RLC-20260928-D5Y8I2