September 30, 2006
Dear USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins and Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz,
I am writing to express my strong opposition to rescinding or altering the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. My husband and I live in northeast Oregon, adjacent to Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, so I know this area well. There are many reasons why I am opposed to expanding roads in this forest (as well as our other national forests) but I will only mention three in this letter.
First, like nearly everyone who lives in this region, I recreate in these mountains and I deeply appreciate what they provide: a wild and quiet landscape with abundant birds and wildlife. Increasing road-building, commercial logging, livestock grazing, and other extractive practices will have a very detrimental effect on the characteristics that I love: the quiet, the birds, and the wildlife. The forest will not be the same if this occurs.
Second, I and other local residents are not the only people who cherish this forest. People come from around the state and elsewhere to hike, camp, hunt, fish, pick huckleberries and mushrooms, and to enjoy this landscape in myriad ways. These visitors bring their dollars, which are a vital part of our local economy.
Third, ample research has shown that most wildfires are caused by people (either intentionally or non-intentionally) rather than lightening and occur near roads where people access the forests. Thus, creating new roads makes forests more vulnerable to human-caused fires. Additionally, large old trees are the most fire resistant, so eliminating protection of these trees, as has been proposed, reduces the forest’s ability to withstand fire. As you may be aware, this past summer was horrendous in terms of wildfire in Eastern Oregon. We spent nearly two months living with air quality that was frequently rated as very unhealthy and even hazardous. With hot and dry summers becoming the norm, we need to be doing all we can to make the forests more resistant to wildfire, and retaining the large old trees and not expanding road-building is one way to accomplish this.
I urge you to keep the Roadless Rule in place, as it is.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Nancy Findholt
Cove, OR