FS-2025-0001-557909

Date: October 5, 2026 To: Director, Ecosystem Management Coordination, U.S. Forest Service Subject: Oppose Rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule – Docket FS-2025-0001 / RIN 0596-AD66 Dear Director, I am writing to express my strong opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Forest Service’s proposal to completely rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. I urge the agency to select the "No Action Alternative" and maintain uniform federal protections for our remaining inventoried roadless areas. As a resident of California who frequently visits and values our public lands, I am deeply concerned about how this decision will impact the iconic Sierra Nevada landscape—specifically the national forest lands that border and support Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, and Yosemite National Park. The roadless areas within the neighboring Sierra, Sequoia, and Inyo National Forests act as vital protective buffers for these parks. I oppose the rescission due to the following critical impacts on this region: • Disruption of Wildlife Corridors: The species that draw millions of visitors to Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon—including the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, Pacific fisher, and California spotted owl—do not recognize administrative borders. They require vast, unfragmented landscapes to migrate, forage, and survive. Allowing road construction and commercial logging on adjacent forest lands will fragment these corridors, isolating wildlife populations within the parks and accelerating habitat loss.Threats to Watersheds and Water Quality: The Sierra Nevada snowpack is California’s primary water source. Roadless areas in the surrounding national forests protect the headwaters of major rivers like the Merced, Tuolumne, San Joaquin, Kings, and Kern. Constructing roads and allowing heavy industrial machinery into these fragile upper watersheds will trigger severe soil erosion, increase sedimentation, and degrade the water quality that millions of downstream residents and fragile river ecosystems rely on. While the agency suggests that rescinding the rule will aid in wildfire management, data shows that human-caused wildfires are overwhelmingly likely to start near roads. Introducing new road networks into currently intact forest interiors will significantly increase the risk of accidental ignitions in a region already devastated by catastrophic fires. Furthermore, intact, mature forests naturally retain more moisture and are more resilient to fire than heavily logged, fragmented areas. I routinely recreate in and around Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. The experience of stepping out of the parks and directly into the undisturbed backcountry of our surrounding national forests is irreplaceable. Protecting these bordering roadless zones is essential to maintaining the ecological integrity, quiet recreation, and natural beauty of the entire High Sierra region. A fragmented, forest-by-forest management plan cannot replace the durable protection of a nationwide rule. I strongly urge the Forest Service to reject the rescission proposal and leave the 2001 Roadless Rule fully intact to safeguard the future of the Sierra Nevada. Thank you for considering my substantive feedback. Sincerely, Norma Jean Eggman Visalia, CA 93291