I am writing in opposition to the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule under Docket FS-2025-0001.
As a North Carolina climber and someone who spends a significant amount of time exploring our public lands, I value places where the experience is still defined by forests, mountains, streams, wildlife, and natural quiet rather than roads and development. These undeveloped landscapes are becoming increasingly difficult to find, and once they are fragmented by new roads, their character can be extremely difficult to restore.
Here in North Carolina, our National Forest System lands include some of the most remarkable landscapes in the Southeast. The Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests of Western North Carolina provide the wild mountain environment that makes this region so special. The Croatan National Forest protects a very different but equally valuable landscape along our coastal plain. Roadless areas within these forests deserve continued protection.
For climbers, hikers, paddlers, hunters, anglers, mountain bikers, campers, and others who recreate on public land, undeveloped areas provide something that developed recreation areas cannot fully replace: the opportunity to travel through a large landscape where natural features remain dominant. Protecting these places also protects the clean streams, wildlife habitat, viewsheds, natural soundscapes, and clean air that make outdoor recreation meaningful in the first place.
My concern extends well beyond North Carolina. I strongly support preserving roadless National Forest lands throughout the American West as well. The scale may be different from the Southern Appalachians, but the principle is the same. Some portions of our public lands should remain wild, connected, undeveloped, and available for future generations to experience.
I understand that National Forests must be actively managed and that individual forests face different ecological challenges. However, I do not believe eliminating the nationwide Roadless Rule is the right approach. The rule provides an important baseline of protection for places whose value comes in large part from the fact that they have not been fragmented by extensive road networks.
The Roadless Rule helps conserve clean water, clean air, wildlife habitat, soundscapes, viewsheds, and opportunities for backcountry recreation. Those benefits belong to everyone, including people who may never visit every one of these forests themselves.
As a North Carolinian and climber, I respectfully ask the Forest Service to retain the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule and continue protecting inventoried roadless areas within North Carolina's National Forests and throughout the National Forest System.
Keeping a place wild today preserves choices for generations that follow us. Once an undeveloped landscape is permanently altered, we cannot simply recreate what was lost.