FS-2025-0001-583402

To Whom It May Concern at the U.S. Forest Service: This protection is about the long-term and shouldn't be changed. When protecting our remaining wilderness areas, decisions shouldn't be short-sighted but holistic and applicable to entire regions. Removing this protection carves into continuous wilderness areas, creating piecemeal ecosystems. The rule should remain as it is with no exceptions, for the long term. I've lived in this region for over 30 years and continue to explore and enjoy our back-country's outdoor spaces. The wilderness is a part of why we Pacific Northwesterners call this place home. It is a sanctuary which should be admired and honored. Through photography and stories I share my experiences with those who are not able to experience this majesty. I recommend those trying to change these protections go and experience them as well. Only then will you understand the value. Somewhere around 4,000 vertical feet up from civilization is a wondrous Japanese-garden-like plateau of alpine lakes and fragile landscape that exists because we have these protections. I have spent time in this region with nothing but a backpack, my thoughts and a camera, sharing it with like-minded people. From sunrises and sunsets to chance encounters with mountain ptarmigans, pikas and marmots, over countless miles of trails and on the edges of still and calming waters, I sponge it all up. Opportunities to recharge from the business of daily city life come from these locations. The quiet and calm we experience from this, our Pacific Northwest backyard is invaluable. Removing our opportunities for these experiences removes our way of life. Regarding the Alpine Lakes Adj. in the Wenatchee National Forest, Washington: Within Wenatchee National Forest, the Alpine Lakes Adj. IRA provides habitat for Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis, G3), a species subject to 7.1 - Fire & fire suppression — a threat assessed at Moderate or 11-30% pop. decline severity affecting Large (31-70%) of the population. Road construction in Alpine Lakes Adj. introduces sediment, alters hydrology, and delivers chemical contaminants to adjacent habitats — the direct physical drivers of 7.1 - Fire & fire suppression. NEPA requires the agency to take a hard look at the effects of rescission on Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis) in the Alpine Lakes Adj. IRA. The DEIS fails this standard without site-specific analysis of 7.1 - Fire & fire suppression at the severity and scope documented by NatureServe. "Road networks are a common disturbance on the landscapes that cause habitat fragmentation and create edges with high resource availability that can act as important channels for the spread of invasive alien plants in various habitats, including nature reserves. Roads serve as dispersal corridors where invasive plant propagules are spread by humans, vehicles and animals using roadways as travel paths. Research indicates that invasive plant richness and density generally decrease with the distance from roads, whereas native species show variable distribution patterns near roads. Proximity to roads often correlates with higher invasion rates, reducing native diversity." — Diversity and Distributions (Wiley), 2025 Although proponents of rolling back the Roadless Rule claim it is needed for wildfire management, the peer-reviewed science shows the opposite. A 2026 study in Fire Ecology by Aplet, Hartger & Dietz analyzed 32 years of wildfire data across all eight contiguous-U.S. Forest Service regions and found wildfire-ignition density was 7.99 fires per 1,000 hectares within 50 meters of roads, compared to just 1.97 fires per 1,000 hectares in inventoried roadless areas—a fourfold difference. A separate national analysis (Balch et al., PNAS 2017) found that 84% of all U.S. wildfires are human-caused. Roads are the primary vector for human ignitions, so building roads into roadless areas is likely to result in more fires, not fewer. “Road networks are a common disturbance on the landscapes that cause habitat fragmentation and create edges with high resource availability that can act as important channels for the spread of invasive alien plants in various habitats, including nature reserves. Roads serve as dispersal corridors where invasive plant propagules are spread by humans, vehicles and animals using roadways as travel paths. Research indicates that invasive plant richness and density generally decrease with the distance from roads, whereas native species show variable distribution patterns near roads. Proximity to roads often correlates with higher invasion rates, reducing native diversity. — Diversity and Distributions (Wiley), 2025 (https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.70002)” What's protected now won't be recoverable later. Keep the Rule. Gratefully, CommentID: RLC-20261006-WQZSFQ