Docket ID: FS-2025-0001
Subject: Support for the Rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule
Dear Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and the U.S. Forest Service,
I am writing to express my strong support for the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. I urge the Department of Agriculture and the Forest Service to choose Alternative 2 (the Proposed Action Alternative) to rescind this rule and return forest management back to local authorities.
My perspective is shaped by two deeply connected roles: I am a structural and wildland firefighter with 30 years of service on the front lines, and my family has owned a summer cabin in the Mendocino National Forest that my grandfather built.
Having spent decades both working in and living alongside these public lands, I have witnessed the devastating, real-world consequences of the Roadless Rule first hand:
• The Loss of Vital Tactical Access: Forty years ago, the Mendocino National Forest had an established network of secondary roads. Under the 2001 rule, these roads were closed off and allowed to completely overgrow. When the largest wildfires in California's history tore through the Mendocino National Forest, the lack of access along these neglected corridors severely crippled initial attack times and containment efforts, allowing the flames to blow up into unmanageable megafires.
• The Defunding of Critical Infrastructure: The current rule has severely throttled or eliminated the funding needed to maintain the few existing access roads that remain. Consequently, these routes have deteriorated into unsafe, unmanaged paths that trap fuels and hinder tactical movement rather than serving as safe, reliable lines of defense.
• Severe Limitations on Responsible Management: Preventing or heavily restricting road reconstruction takes away the essential tools needed to responsibly care for the forest. Local managers are effectively blocked from getting heavy equipment into overgrown stands to perform the mechanical thinning, clearing, and fuel reductions required to keep the forest healthy and resilient against bugs, disease, and catastrophic fire.
For thirty years, I have seen that wildfires are much easier to contain and keep small when suppression crews can use roads as defensible firebreaks and rapid ingress routes. Blanket mandates from Washington, D.C., have left our forests locked up and vulnerable. Local rangers and community stakeholders understand the unique ecology of the Mendocino National Forest and must be given the flexibility to manage it responsibly.
I strongly urge the agency to move forward with the rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule to restore safety, balance, and accountability to our national forests.
Thank you for your time, your service, and your consideration of my professional and personal testimony.
Sincerely,
Chris Cushman
Fire Captain, Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department
Lake Pillsbury Lot #25 Owner
6006 Silverleaf Drive, Foresthill, CA 95631