The foolhardy, destructive and illegal assault by the current administration on the environment and American people make the 19th century robber barons look like raging democratic socialists. I strongly OPPOSE rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule that has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on our national forests for the past 25 years.
You obviously know that roadless areas provide critically important habitat and migration corridors for endangered species and other at-risk wildlife and plant species. Undoubtedly, you realize these areas have extremely high value as healthy, undisturbed watersheds to provide clean water to streams that supply rivers benefiting downstream water users. Allowing additional roads will create additional run off – sending dirt and sediment downstream which will damage habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife. And, of course, adding roads in steep, rugged country increases the risk of landslides.
As an avid outdoors person, I value roadless areas for recreational use hiking, camping and backpacking. Others value these areas for horseback riding, hunting and fishing. Of critical concern to me are my nearby PUBLIC lands: Carson Iceberg Wilderness, Emigrant Wilderness, the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park. I have had the pleasure of outdoor recreation in numerous other wilderness areas, national forests, as well as state and national parks in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Hawaii, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Montana, Pennsylvania, New York, and Florida. Wilderness areas and national forests provide buffer zones for wildlife around our precious national parks. These lands were set aside by Congress “for the benefit and enjoyment of the people”—NOT corporations looking for lumber, oil, gas and minerals.
Additional roads in our wild areas will cost taxpayers millions – just to subsidize corporations’ greed. The Forest Service can’t even maintain the 380,000 miles (longer than our highway system!) of existing national forests roads, how will they maintain more? According to some, there is an estimated $8.6 billion maintenance backlog already. Why build more if you cannot maintain what you have?
As a native Californian, I understand the risk of fire all too well. Adding more roads to the wilderness will undoubtedly result in more human-caused fire. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. And contrary to the disinformation being spread by the current administration, the Roadless Rule act ALREADY allows prescribed burns and fuel reduction projects. We do NOT need more roads in our forests.
If you want to do something useful for the American public regarding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, strengthen it! Eliminate logging and road-building loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Preserve our wild roadless areas! They are a priceless heritage to be passed down to future generations.