Dear Tom Schultz,
Growing up and living near and exploring Craggy Mountain is wonderful and I wouldn't trade it for the world
I spend my spare time wandering and foraging on and around Craggy. Craggy belongs to us, the public, and to the wildlife who depend on it for survival. It is not for sale or development!
Taking away the roadless will ruin and take away these experiences from me. It will take critical habitat from wildlife. It will harm my aquifer and it will take away income as I rely on the tourist drawn to the trails and pristine beauty of Craggy Mountain. As a working artist it will destroy my inspiration. It will also increase rather than decrease fire risk
Regarding the Craggy Mountain in the Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina:
The physical footprint of road construction — grading, drainage installation, stream crossings — destabilizes slopes and generates chronic sediment inputs that intensify 7.1.2 - Suppression in fire frequency/intensity in the Craggy Mountain IRA.
NEPA requires the agency to take a hard look at the effects of rescission on Gray's Lily (Lilium grayi) in the Craggy Mountain IRA. The DEIS fails this standard without site-specific analysis of 7.1.2 - Suppression in fire frequency/intensity at the severity and scope documented by NatureServe.
"The mortality of wildlife resulting from collisions with vehicles is considered one of the main negative effects of roads on numerous species. Roadkill can increase the risk of local extinction by reducing effective population size and genetic diversity, while also limiting demographic and genetic rescue mechanisms. Estimates can reach to 340 million of birds killed on the roads in USA, 194 million birds, 29 million mammals in Europe and 17 million of birds and mammals in Latin America."
— Scientific Data (Nature), 2024
“Human-started wildfires accounted for 84% of all wildfires, tripled the length of the fire season, dominated an area seven times greater than that affected by lightning fires, and were responsible for nearly half of all area burned. — Balch et al., 2017 (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1617394114)”
“Sixty percent of the total land area of the coterminous United States was dominated by human-started wildfires, whereas only 8% of the area was dominated by lightning fires. — Balch et al., 2017 (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1617394114)”
The Department should keep the Roadless Rule in place. I think the record supports that, and so does the public.
In earnest,
CommentID: RLC-20261006-C5H9RX