My name is Jeanette Helgerson, I am a resident family medicine physician that works in rural Oregon. I see firsthand how decreases in the availability of nature, the carbon footprint of deforestation, and the industrialization of lands affects all of our health. I have many patients who have to drive long periods of time to access walking trails, or even get to a place where you cannot hear cars, and I live rurally. As a population, our mental health is worsening, and the incidence of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases is rising dramatically.
Forests are a major carbon sink. Removing these forests to create roads, not only destroys habitats for animals and important flora and fauna of the ecosystem, but directly contributes to decreasing the lifespan of Americans. The effects of wildfires, which are one method of breaking down the carbon in trees and releasing it into the atmosphere, are only now being recognized for how severely they affect people’s health. It is incredibly important to preserve the carbon stores that we have in these lands.
I strongly urge for conservation of these forested lands, and recommend against rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule. This is about more than the land itself, by preserving these lands we preserve American lives.