As a researcher, conservationist, and advocate for open spaces on public lands, I work with land managers and livestock producers to better manage land for long term sustainability and improved habitat on BLM, USFS, State, and private lands. Additionally as an avid hiker, the National Parks, Preserves, and wildlife management areas are valuable to me not only for recreation, but also because I know that they are beneficial to the organisms that live there - big and small. I have lived in and worked on these lands across Kansas, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho.
From a wildlife perspective, on a scale from insects to large ungulates, roads contribute to habitat loss and fragmentation. Noise from traffic also disrupts normal wildlife behavior, rhythms, and relationships. Madadi et al., reviewed these impacts in “Degradation of natural habitats by roads: Comparing land-take and noise effect zone.” A healthy, intact forest filters and retains water, cycles nutrients, sequesters carbon, and is primary habitat for thousands of plant and animal species. Additionally, roads and the consequential traffic increase the risk of wildfires and maintenance is costly.
The Roadless Rule protects these important areas and populations from deterioration and protects future generation’s access to these pristine ecosystems. Eliminating this law would be a transgression against the scientific community who has studied this ecosystem and its inhabitants for decades.
I strongly oppose removing the Roadless Rule and as for the Forest Service to adopt a “no action alternative” to keep the Rule intact.
I urge the USFS to keep the Roadless Rule in place to protect these sensitive ecosystems from further degradation.
Sincerely,
CG