I am writing to express my strong opposition to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposal to completely rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Eliminating nationwide protections across 44.7 million acres of inventoried roadless areas undermines decades of balanced federal land stewardship.
The proposal to open these pristine backcountry areas to industrial logging and road construction relies on flawed justifications. Specifically, I urge the Forest Service to reconsider based on the following critical points:
• Wildfire Risk: While the agency claims that removing the rule is necessary for wildfire risk reduction, decades of peer-reviewed data show that wildfire ignition is actually four times higher near forest roads. Intact, roadless forests have the lowest ignition rates of any land category. Furthermore, fuel reduction treatments can and already do successfully occur within areas protected by the Roadless Rule.
• Fiscal Responsibility: The Forest Service currently faces a staggering multibillion-dollar road maintenance backlog (estimated at roughly $10 billion) across its existing 370,000+ mile road network. Expanding the road system into pristine backcountry areas when the agency cannot afford to maintain its current footprint is fiscally irresponsible.
• Watershed and Habitat Destruction: These unfragmented areas secure clean drinking water for over 60 million Americans across 33 states. Introducing heavy machinery and roadbed erosion threatens hundreds of municipal watersheds and critical habitats for federally protected species.
I urge the Forest Service to heed the overwhelming public consensus—which historically stands at over 99% opposition to rolling back these protections—and preserve the 2001 Roadless Rule intact.
Respectfully,
Alex J Hasson
Columbia Falls, MT 59912