Dear Ms. Rollins,
Being a resident near roadless national forest has given me a particular view of what intact land provides — not just ecological, but economic and social — and the 2001 Rule is what's kept it intact.
The Roadless Rule is important because it protects some of our nation’s most valuable and undeveloped public lands. The ecological health of our waters and forests is directly connected to our own health and well-being. Opening our wildest forest lands to development threatens clean water, fragments habitats and takes away our access to quiet recreation.
Though I live in the Adirondack Park, our protected state lands provide safe habitat and migratory corridors for many birds and animals that rely on national forest and protected national lands in Vermont and on to New Hampshire and Maine. Without these connections, it is questionable if I would have grown up with the return of the moose in our forests, the Bald Eagle nesting on the lakes in the St. Regis Canoe Area, or seen Coywolves walk across frozen lakes in pursuit of deer.
When roads and development begin in our public lands and protected forests, we stand to lose access to quiet foot paths under canopies of leaves. We stand to lose broad swaths of undeveloped landscapes. We stand to lose quiet visits to lakes and rivers where the only sound is the lapping of water on the shore. We stand to lose our understanding and connection to the outdoors.
Recreation disturbance has measurable effects on wildlife. A systematic review of 274 studies found that more than 93 percent documented at least one effect of non-consumptive recreation on animals, with 59 percent of those effects classified as negative. Motorized use covers larger spatial extents than non-motorized activities and brings additional disturbance through dust, soil compaction, and vegetation damage. Forest Service leadership has named unmanaged recreation as one of four key threats to national forests (Larson et al. 2016; USDA Forest Service 2016). — Larson et al., 2016 (https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167259); USDA Forest Service, Six Rivers National Forest, Gasquet Ranger District, Dece (https://www.nfwf.org/sites/default/files/norcal/Documents/SRNFEIS.pdf)
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule has protected our public forests and spaces for 25 years. Keep our wild spaces wild. Let our landscapes remain unfragmented and our wildlife corridors open. Now is not the time to unravel decades of conservation work. We all share the responsibility for keeping protected national and state public lands intact so the legacy of access and enjoyment of our iconic landscapes can endure for generations.
Rescission of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule is opposed; its retention is respectfully requested.
All the best,
CommentID: RLC-20261004-S289FA