As lifelong Wyoming resident, hunter, angler and seasoned user of our national forests I have seen first hand how the Roadless Rule has conserved some of our nation's most intact fish and wildlife habitat, protected clean water and sustained outstanding backcountry hunting and fishing opportunities. I spend on average over 30 days annually in our national forests primarily in the western United States. I recently spent over two weeks hunting and camping in the Bridger-Teton National Forest and another two weeks in the Shoshone National Forest.
Roadless does not mean unmanaged. The rule allows important management activities, including hazardous fuels reduction and habitat restoration, while keeping these lands open to hunting, fishing, grazing and recreation.
Claims that wholesale rescission is necessary to address wildfire risk aren't true. The Roadless Rule already provides flexibility for fuels treatments and other management activities without requiring permanent new roads. And recent research found that wildfire ignitions were roughly four times more likely to occur near roads than in roadless forests, underscoring that more roads are not necessarily the answer to wildfire risk.
The Roadless Rule also makes fiscal sense. The Forest Service already manages roughly 370,000 miles of roads and faces approximately $10.8 billion in deferred maintenance, with more than half attributable to roads alone. Adding new roads and long-term maintenance obligations won't solve that problem. I was appalled at the conditions of the existing roads in these national forests.
On a recent hunting and fishing trip in September 2026 in the Shoshone and Bridger-Teton National Forests, most of the roads I encountered had not been adequately maintained for months. Some of these roads were nearly impassible in a four wheel drive truck.
As a hunter, angler and user of our national forests I support active, science-based forest management to address wildfire, forest health and responsible access. But wholesale elimination of the Roadless Rule is not the answer - it would remove longstanding protections from more than 44 million acres of national forest backcountry across 37 states.
The Forest Service must keep our roadless areas wild, productive and accessible for generations to come and support the No Action Alternative. As a hunter, angler and outdoor enthusiast, I support the No Action Alternative and recommend that the United States Forest Service adopts the No Action Alternative.