FS-2025-0001-571670

I am deeply concerned about the administration’s proposal to eviscerate the roadless rule, which was carefully crafted and overwhelmingly supported by the public when it was introduced - and continues to receive widespread public support for its protection of public lands. These lands include the last remaining intact forests not protected as wilderness areas. Those forests provide crucial carbon storage, sources of clean drinking water for over 60 million people, and habitat for countless threatened and endangered species. They tend to be located in close proximity with cherished public lands in parks and monuments and contain miles of recreational trails. The claim that roads are needed for “management flexibility” and wildfire concerns are flawed. Existing rules allow access for reducing wildfire risks and for restoration efforts. Historical records reveal very few wildfires have occurred in roadless areas, while 90% of ignitions are within a half mile of a road and 88% of such fires are human caused. If wildfire risk is indeed a concern, focus should be placed on the wild land/urban interface, not on roadless areas, For much of my life I have hiked, camped, and worked as a volunteer to maintain trails from the Columbia River Gorge through Mt. Hood and Three Sisters in Oregon, the Lake Tahoe area, the Eastern Sierra and the White Mountains in California. I know from experience that the Forest Service is unable to maintain the roads and trails already in its system and that the recreation economy sustains numerous small rural towns, and that roadless areas provide much needed peace and quiet that countless people regard as being essential to their lives. Please preserve the roadless rule!