As a senior taxpayer and director of Progressive Voices, I state our strong opposition to any removal of roadless areas designation. These are valuable public resources whose forests serve as invaluable "carbon sinks" to counter the climate changes our planet is facing. We have enjoyed hiking in local roadless areas such as McGowan Creek old growth grove near Marcola and Eagles Rest. The latter is a wonderful, unfragmented, old-growth backcountry forest located within the Hardesty Mountain Inventoried Roadless Area of the Willamette National Forest. Located roughly 20 miles southeast of Eugene, its dense Douglas-fir canopies provide municipal watershed protection and excellent outdoor recreation options enjoyed by so many citizens who also pay taxes for the benefits of such roadless areas. Because of these reasons and the fact that they are irreplaceable, such roadless areas should be protected with the current law and their forests allowed to remain uncut so that future generations can also benefit from their existence.