Dear Forest Service and Department of Agriculture Leadership:
I am writing as a concerned citizen, outdoor enthusiast, and taxpayer to express my strong opposition to the proposed elimination or weakening of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. I urge the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to select Alternative 1 (No Action) and keep the 2001 Roadless Rule fully intact.
The 2001 Roadless Rule safeguards over 58 million acres of inventoried roadless areas across our National Forest System. These undeveloped lands provide vital ecological, economic, and social benefits that would be permanently damaged by opening them to industrial road building and commercial logging.
I oppose the proposed action for the following substantive reasons:
1. Backlog and Maintenance Burden
The Forest Service already struggles with a multi-billion-dollar deferred maintenance backlog on its existing network of over 370,000 miles of forest roads. Allowing new road construction in previously protected areas creates an additional, unsustainable financial burden for taxpayers while the agency cannot afford to properly maintain or repair its current infrastructure.
2. Increased Wildfire Risk and Human Ignition
Building new roads into remote areas dramatically increases the risk of human-caused wildfire ignitions. Statistics consistently show that the vast majority of wildfires originate near existing road corridors. Intact, roadless forests maintain natural canopy cover and soil moisture, providing higher wildfire resilience compared to fragmented forests heavily fragmented by roads and clear-cuts.
3. Protection of Clean Drinking Water Supplies
Roadless national forest lands act as natural water filters for millions of Americans, providing clean, cost-effective drinking water to downstream communities. Constructing roads and conducting commercial timber harvests in these steep watersheds significantly increases soil erosion, sedimentation, and runoff, threatening municipal water quality and aquatic habitats.
4. Biodiversity, Wildlife Refuges, and Habitat Connectivity
Inventoried roadless areas serve as crucial strongholds for threatened, endangered, and sensitive species. They provide undisturbed corridors necessary for wildlife migration and climate adaptation. Fragmenting these contiguous blocks of habitat will accelerate biodiversity loss and exacerbate threats to sensitive wildlife.
5. Local Economies and Sustainable Recreation
Unfragmented public lands drive a multi-billion-dollar outdoor recreation economy supporting hunting, fishing, hiking, camping, and local small businesses in rural communities. Replacing these long-term sustainable economic benefits with short-term resource extraction undermines local economies reliant on intact natural landscapes.
Personal Impact:
I regularly visit national parks and local forests for hiking and camping frequently. Protecting these quiet, roadless spaces ensures that my family and future generations can enjoy the same clean water and wild experiences that I rely on.
I am particularly concerned about the potential loss of protections for specific Inventoried Roadless Areas that I utilize, including the Pikes Peak West IRA in the Pike-San Isabel National Forest and the Dark Divide IRA in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Allowing road construction or resource extraction in these named units would destroy contiguous wildlife corridors and compromise critical municipal headwaters.
For these reasons, the Forest Service must abandon the proposed rescission and maintain full protections under the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
Sincerely,
Lindsey Sandillo
Wheat Ridge CO 80033