“80 percent of human-caused fires happen within a half mile of a road”
“Roadless areas thus reduce fire risk rather than increasing it”
The comment
I am writing to express my strong opposition to the proposal to fully or partially rescind, weaken, or roll back the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
I am retired and live in Muscatine, Iowa, and my husband and I look forward to visiting our beautiful national parks and forests. National forests and inventoried roadless areas matter deeply to me because they are a treasure of beautiful landscapes and home to wildlife habitats that are a part of God’s creation which we are obligated to protect.
Fully or partially rescinding the Roadless Rule would threaten unfragmented backcountry landscapes, wildlife habitats, and clean water sources. Roads fragment ecosystems in ways that cause long-term ecological harm, and dismantling these protections undermines the natural integrity of our public lands.
Also consider that a recent study found that 80 percent of human-caused fires happen within a half mile of a road. Roadless areas thus reduce fire risk rather than increasing it. Further, it is likely that additional roads would not be properly maintained. The U.S. Forest Service has 371,000 miles of roads already — roughly eight times more than the entire U.S. interstate highway system - and the maintenance backlog for these forest roads is $6.1 billion.
I urge the Forest Service to drop the proposed rescission and instead support Alternative 1 (the No Action alternative) to maintain full, permanent protections for all currently designated inventoried roadless areas.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important issue.
Lisa Longtin
Muscatine, IA 52761