Subject: Public Comment on Docket FS-2025-0001 – Strong Opposition to Rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule
Dear Forest Service Officials,
I am writing as a resident of Ferdinand, Indiana, to express my strong opposition to the proposal to rescind or weaken the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Docket FS-2025-0001).
I live near and own a woods near the Hoosier National Forest in southern Indiana. I care deeply about the preservation of our nation's shared natural heritage. The nearly 45 million acres of inventoried roadless areas across the United States belong to all Americans. These public lands serve as critical bulwarks against climate change, acting as massive carbon sinks and protecting the headwaters that provide clean drinking water to millions of people downstream.
Opening these pristine, undeveloped lands to industrial logging and road construction will cause irreversible damage to wildlife habitats, increase wildfire vulnerability, and place an unnecessary financial burden on taxpayers to maintain new infrastructure.
As a resident and taxpayer, I urge the U.S. Forest Service to uphold its commitment to conservation and sustainable public land management. Please select Alternative 1 (the No Action alternative) in the draft Environmental Impact Statement and keep the 2001 Roadless Rule fully intact.
Thank you for your time and consideration of my comments.
Sincerely,
Rock G. Emmert
Ferdinand, IN 47532