Roadless Area Conservation Rule is important to New Hampshires economy.
The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects undeveloped national forest lands from new road construction and most commercial logging. In New Hampshire, the rule protects approximately 235,000 acres of roadless land within the White Mountain National Forest. The rule supports New Hampshires tourism economy. The White Mountains attract more than 6 million visitors annually, many of whom come specifically for hiking, camping, skiing, fishing, and scenic recreation.
Visitors spend money on hotels, restaurants, gas, outdoor equipment, and local attractions. Forest Service research shows that visitors to national forests spend anywhere from about $36 to more than $740 per trip, depending on the type of visit. When multiplied by millions of visitors, that translates into hundreds of millions of dollars flowing into New Hampshires local communities. The outdoor economy contributed $3.9 billion in 2023, representing 3.4% of the states GDP. It also supported nearly 32,000 jobs and delivered $1.7 billion in wages. I dont believe the outdoor economy can coexist with industrial lumber extraction and development in the White Mountain National Forest. Its important to note, the White Mountain National Forest produces only 3% of the forest products in New Hampshire the other 97% comes from private land.
The rule also benefits local communities such as North Conway, Lincoln, Gorham, and Conway. Many businesses in these towns depend on visitors who come to hike, camp, fish, ski, view fall foliage, and enjoy wilderness experiences. If roadless areas were developed or fragmented by new roads, New Hampshire could lose some of the natural character that makes the region a destination for millions of visitors each year.
In addition, protecting roadless areas helps preserve clean water, wildlife habitat, and scenic landscapes that support recreation-based businesses over the long term. Unlike timber harvesting, which provides a short-term economic benefit, tourism and recreation generate economic activity year after year when the forest remains healthy and attractive to visitors.
The Sacco and Ammonoosuc rivers, whose headwaters are in the White Mountain national Forest, provide drinking water to New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. The value of this clean water must be considered. Development could seriously jeopardize water quality adding cost to the down river states.
The White Mountain National Forest (WMNF) sequesters an estimated 150 to $200 million worth of carbon annually, based on conservative federal damage estimates for Co2 and the region's robust tree growth rates. The roughly 800,000 acre forest holds well over 100 million metric tons of stored carbon across its biomass and soils. This value would be seriously reduced if the roadless rule were rescinded.
The Forest Service should keep the Roadless Rule intact exactly as it is. Do not weaken or repeal this critical policy.
National forests are the heart of our public lands. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects some of the wildest forests we have left, forests that protect critical wildlife habitat and drinking water for millions. Revoking the Roadless Rule puts landscapes, wildlife, and communities at risk.
Not only is the Roadless Rule good policy, it's also wildly popular across the country, with over 600,000 people submitting comments to the US Forest Service last year in support of keeping the rule in place. And more than 20 years ago, the American people overwhelmingly called for our national forests to be protected for future generations. Revoking the Roadless Rule would destroy the natural inheritance we leave for our children.