I oppose rescinding the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (RIN 0596-AD66, docket FS-2025-0001) and urge the Forest Service to retain 36 CFR part 294, subpart B.
I lived in Minnesota for years and the roadless areas of Superior National Forest — in the same watershed as the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness — are places I know and return to. Their protection is not abstract: intact, roadless forest is what keeps that water clean. New roads fragment wildlife habitat, carry sediment and runoff into lakes and streams, and open corridors for invasive species, and those effects do not stay at the road's edge.
The wildfire rationale for rescission cuts the other way. Most ignitions are human-caused and cluster near roads; building more roads into currently roadless areas is more likely to increase fire starts than to reduce risk. The 2001 rule also already leaves room for active management, including prescribed fire and limited vegetation treatment where it is genuinely needed — rescinding it wholesale is not necessary to do that work.
Roadless areas also underpin the quiet-recreation economy that gateway communities depend on. I ask the Department to keep these protections in place. — Emily Anderson, Playa del Rey, CA (formerly Minnesota)