“Forest bathing... calms anxiety and eases depression”
“profound spiritual function to humans”
“wildest forests we have left”
The comment
Our national forests offer refuge to thousands of life forms from microbes in the soil to birds in the air. They also cool our planet by covering the earth's surface and make the oxygen we breathe. They slow rain as it falls and prevent soil erosion. Trees offer a profound spiritual function to humans as well. Forest bathing, a practice founded in Japan, calms anxiety and eases depression in humans far better than pharmaceuticals. National forests are one of our national treasures. For all of the above reasons, we cannot open them up to roads, logging, mining and extractive industries. They are worth far more in their natural state to the earth and its creatures than they would be to the companies that would plunder their "resources." We only have one planet upon which to live. Forests protect our planet. If we devastate our natural forests, we lose something we can NEVER get back. Please do not allow the repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
The Forest Service should keep the Roadless Rule intact exactly as it is. Do not weaken or repeal this critical policy.
National forests are the heart of our public lands. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects some of the wildest forests we have left, forests that protect critical wildlife habitat and drinking water for millions. Revoking the Roadless Rule puts landscapes, wildlife, and communities at risk.
Not only is the Roadless Rule good policy, it's also wildly popular across the country, with over 600,000 people submitting comments to the US Forest Service last year in support of keeping the rule in place. And more than 20 years ago, the American people overwhelmingly called for our national forests to be protected for future generations. Revoking the Roadless Rule would destroy the natural inheritance we leave for our children.