To the U.S. Forest Service:
I am writing to express my strong opposition to any efforts to rescind, weaken, or roll back the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. As an avid user and advocate for our nation’s public lands, I rely heavily on the integrity and protection of our inventoried roadless areas. I live in Asheville, NC and frequently visit numerous parts of Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. These areas that I cherish are either directly protected by roadless designation (places like South Mills River, Linville Gorge, and Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock) or benefit from being located nearby to roadless areas. And in the wake of Hurricane Helene, the integrity of our roadless areas has become all-the-more important to Western North Carolina's continued recovery, including the quality of our water and the resilience of our ecosystems to natural disasters. On a more personal level, protecting these unfragmented landscapes is important to my continued recreational enjoyment as a hiker and backpacker, and important to my community's identity. I urge the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to abandon the proposed rescission and instead maintain full protections for all currently designated inventoried roadless areas.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide public comment.
Sincerely,
Molly Bruce