We have close to 200,000 acres of Inventoried Roadless Areas in Central Oregon. These areas include the Deschutes National Forest, Ochoco National Forest, and Crooked River National Grassland. Wildlife habitats have been protected, boosting economies through both outdoor recreation and high quality of life, and ensured clean drinking water for nearly 25 years.
I recreate on these public lands regularly and I strongly oppose the USDA’s proposal to eliminate, alter, or weaken the Roadless Rule, which would reduce protections across nearly 45 million acres of public lands managed by the US Forest Service nationwide.
Because it is so important to the future of our wildlife and water, I urge you to choose the No Action alternative and maintain full Roadless Rule protections for America's wild forests.
It would be impractical and dangerous to rescind the Roadless Rule. Opening roadless areas to logging in central Oregon will not yield a meaningful economic return, but rather it will damage recreation areas, scenic views, and wildlife habitat, and eliminate the core reasons people choose to live, work, and recreate within Central Oregon. Additional roads also mean more fires as research shows wildfires are four times more likely to ignite near roads. Adding roads will also degrade drinking watersheds. In Central Oregon, the Bend Municipal Watershed originates in the headwaters of Bridge Creek and Tumalo Creek in the Deschutes National Forest. Without Roadless protections, water quality for fish species and the drinking water supply for more than 100,000 people in Bend, and tens of millions of people across the country will be threatened.
Our forests are far less resilient if the Roadless Rule is rescinded. Rescinding Roadless Rules will spread invasive species, disrupt wildlife corridors, and erode forest resilience in the face of rapidly shifting wildfire regimes.
On behalf of myself and our community at large, I ask that you please abandon this misguided effort to repeal the Roadless Rule and instead strengthen protections for America’s roadless forests for all the clean water, climate resilience, recreation, and habitat for biodiversity they provide.
Thank you
Meghan Bowman
Bend, OR