I am writing to support maintaining the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and urge you to choose Alternative 1 of the proposal.
The Rule provides vital protections for public lands that are meaningful to me and my community.
Roadless areas like Mount Hagen and McLennon Mountain in the Willamette National Forest safeguard my drinking water supply in the McKenzie River.
I share roadless areas such as Echo Mountain, Gordon Meadows, Mount Washington West, Hardesty Mountain, Waldo-Fuji, Maiden Peak, Calf-Copeland, Mount Hebo, and the Oregon Dunes (in the Willamette, Siuslaw, Deschutes, and Umpqua National Forests) with colleagues and members of the public through educational hikes.
The hiking guide I published in 2019 through Mountaineers Books includes trails in 26 different roadless areas, including Lost Lake in the Mt. Hood National Forest, the North Fork Malheur River in the Malheur National Forest, and Brown Mountain in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest.
I’ve enjoyed countless experiences with wildlife within roadless areas - places where birds, elk, wolves, and salmon find refuge and essential habitat.
All of these values will be harmed by repealing the Roadless Rule. Such a decision will compromise clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, low-impact recreation and so much more. Rather than opening up new opportunities for exploitation of our roadless wild lands, I urge you to maintain the 2001 Roadless Rule for the many benefits they provide to the American people.