As a New Hampshire resident, I strongly oppose rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Removing it would strip protection from about 235,000 acres of the White Mountain National Forest, roughly a quarter of the forest, and from about 45 million acres nationwide. These lands belong to all Americans, and they should stay as they are.
The White Mountains drive our economy. The White Mountain National Forest draws more than 6 million visitors a year, more than Yosemite. New Hampshire's outdoor recreation economy is worth nearly $4 billion a year, and the people who hike, ski, fish, hunt, and paddle here fill our inns, restaurants, gear shops, and guide services. North Country towns depend on that business. Visitors come for unbroken backcountry, not logging roads and clearcuts.
Roadless areas protect our water and wildlife. The headwaters of the Pemigewasset, Saco, Androscoggin, and other rivers start in these forests and supply communities downstream. New roads mean erosion, runoff, and sediment in streams that hold native brook trout. Large unfragmented forests are also what moose, black bear, and pine marten need, and they will matter even more as the climate warms.
These lands buffer our Wilderness and trails. Roadless areas border the Pemigewasset, Sandwich Range, Presidential Range–Dry River, Great Gulf, and Wild River Wilderness areas, and much of the Appalachian Trail and our 4,000-footers. Roads and logging up to their edges would degrade the experience that defines the White Mountains.
The wildfire rationale does not fit New Hampshire. Our wet northern hardwood and spruce-fir forests are not the fire-prone western landscapes cited to justify this change, and the existing rule already allows fuel reduction where it is needed. Nothing here requires removing protections wholesale.
The public has already spoken. The original rule drew more supportive public comments than any federal rule before it. New Hampshire's congressional delegation has raised concerns, and the state House recognized the value of outdoor recreation this spring. A short comment period is not enough to undo a protection Americans have supported for 25 years.
I urge you to withdraw this proposal and keep the Roadless Rule in place, in New Hampshire and across the country.
Sincerely,
Kyle Dimick