“preserving ecosystems for research and recreational use”
“Undeveloped areas are one of the unique treasures of the United States”
What it names
Works cited
10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01943
The comment
Secretary Rollins,
I urge you NOT to rescind the Roadless Rule. I have a BA, MA, and PhD in Geography, and currently serve as a cartographer at a large NGO, creating public-facing maps for ecological research being conducted around the globe. My work has made it very clear to me that roadless areas are critical to preserving ecosystems for research and recreational use.
The benefits of roadless areas are empirically supported. Here are a few statistics: ignition density within 50 meters of a road was nearly four times that in roadless areas. Some (not all, or even most) fires are discovered because of road access, but those fires wouldn't have started if not for the road being there in the first place, bringing with it people; the primary source of ignition. The US Forest Service released a report: "“Building roads into inventoried roadless areas would likely increase the chance of human-caused fires due to the increased presence of people.” Furthermore, prohibiting road construction and reconstruction in these areas “would not cause an increase in the number of acres burned by wildland fires or in the number of large fires.”
Roadless areas are extremely important for biodiversity as well. According to one study, "57% of [species of conservation concern] have at least some suitable habitat in one or more IRAs" (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01943). Roads also bring with them invasive species, potentially decimating ecosystems that would have otherwise stayed intact, and reducing timber quality. Roads will also reduce the quality of water in otherwise pristine areas. The USFS itself has admitted that it cannot maintain at least 370,000 miles of roads with an existing backlog of road maintenance in the billions of dollars.
Undeveloped areas are one of the unique treasures of the United States. So many parts of the world have fully developed or disturbed their ecosystems. We still have so much to learn from ours. It's one of the things that we can take pride in as Americans. Please do not take that away from us and from future generations.