Dear Secretary:
I spend a lot of time in nature. Watching wildlife in roaded and unroaded country for a long time has shown me the rule is the variable that matters.
The Rattlesnake wilderness is nearby where I live and provides habitat for a myriad flora and fauna. Roadless areas are important for migratory birds and animals.
First time I ever felt a mountain lion watching me was in the Rattlesnake Wilderness.
Access to roadless areas. Peace. I enjoy getting out to look for wildlife and watch the birds and rescinding this rule would take away peace and territory for many of God’s creatures.
Regarding the Rattlesnake in the Lolo National Forest, Montana:
Roadless forests provide undisturbed nesting, stopover, and wintering habitat for migratory birds protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
Roads concentrate nest predators near edges. Predation by edge-following predators — Blue Jays, raccoons, snakes — is concentrated near roads, clearings, and forest edges. Distance to unpaved road was the strongest predictor of nest survival in a study of 463 nests across 17 songbird species. Nest predation, not parasitism, accounts for 75 to 100 percent of nest failures in most studies (DeGregorio et al. 2014; Akresh et al. 2024). — DeGregorio et al., 2014 (https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.1049); Akresh et al., 2024 (https://doi.org/10.5751/JFO-00481-950212)
Rescinding the Roadless Rule would open the Rattlesnake, Lolo National Forest to road construction and associated ground disturbance. The direct and indirect effects of that activity are precisely what makes a specific comment about this area necessary.
I think rolling back the 2001 Rule is just another bad idea by our current administration.
Please don’t do it.
The Department should close this proceeding by declining to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
With best wishes,
CommentID: RLC-20261006-3D639I