“millions of people take advantage of the free, or extremely affordable, access”
Attachments
1 file. Counts as 232 — Counted from the files: The enclosed submissions were counted from the files themselves.
Enclosed submissions
The comment
To U.S. Forest Service Chief Tom Schultz:
Please fully retain the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and do not rescind it or weaken it in any
respect.
This is to address Document ID FS-2025-0001-223869 or #RIN 0596-AD66.
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule should be kept in place so that Inventoried Roadless Areas
can continue to provide the following benefits to the American public.
1. Vital Habitat for Imperiled Species: The lands in question include diverse forests, wetlands,
canyons and other undeveloped lands that are critical to the nation's ecological health. The
California condor is just one example of an imperiled species that depends in whole or in part on
undeveloped lands, including Roadless Rule-protected forestlands.
2. Protecting Migration Corridors and Habitat: Protected roadless areas help ensure that
migratory corridors for species such as elk and mule deer remain intact and protected from roads
and the industrial development roads enable.
3. Drinking Water: The national forests are the headwaters of many of our great rivers and are
one of the largest sources of municipal water supply in the nation, serving over 60 million people
in 3400 communities in 33 states. A recent study by American Rivers found that roadless areas
directly provide clean, reliable drinking water for over 25 million people.
4. Subsistence and Cultural Values: These spaces are critical to food security for many
indigenous communities, as well as for sustaining their cultural practices, including hunting,
fishing, and gathering forest plants for food, medicine, and traditional arts.
5. Outdoor Recreation: Roadless areas offer abundant outdoor recreation opportunities such as
hunting, fishing, camping and other activities. Every year, millions of people take advantage of
the free, or extremely affordable, access to these public lands.
6. Wildfire risk: Burning government time and money on opening the door for more roads and
logging in our country's most-intact backcountry forests will only worsen wildfire risk and
hazard.
Please support Alternative 1, the "No Action" alternative, which would leave the Roadless Rule
fully intact.