FS-2025-0001-601083

I have a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Politics and a background in community advocacy and conservation. I am interested in this regulation because the Roadless Rule provides clean drinking water for 25 million Americans. I am commenting to request that the U.S. Forest Service keeps the Roadless Area Conservation Rule entirely intact and makes no changes. This rule serves the country in a multitude of ways and the results of the DEIS showed that. The DEIS did not properly justify the need for this rescission based on wildfire management, because as we know two-thirds of human caused wildfires in my home state of California are started near roads and 95% of wildfires are caused by humans. Wildfire management and preparedness is better accomplished via community programs, the federal government should be funding those programs rather than rescinding rules that protect wilderness and prevent wildfires in certain areas. I will address one of the issues that will be created by the rescission of this rule. I’ve grown up in Lake Tahoe, I’ve seen the beauty of the clear blue water, the majestic trees, the wildlife that thrives there, and the small businesses that are able to thrive and benefit off of this natural beauty. 23% of National Forest lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin are Inventoried Roadless Areas. The forests in the Lake Tahoe Basin actively protect and maintain the quality of the regional water supply. Forests do so by acting at natural filters, sponges and regulators that clean, store, and release water. When forests are clearcut they lose their ability to soak up water like a sponge. When clearcutting happens soil is degraded and the water washes down to nearby streams and rivers and forest’s water storage capacity is reduced. Forests also lose their ability to support the water cycle through transpiration. Cutting down forests to build roads increases soil erosion and lack of water retention and filtering for the water supply. 55,000 year-round residents plus huge numbers of tourists rely on the local watershed resources in the Lake Tahoe Basin. Rescinding the Roadless Rule would put these watersheds at risk and therefore expose the local community as well as the wildfire and other existing habitats at risk. My recommendation is that no action be taken and the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule is kept as is. And a note to this administration, rescinding this rule will not increase American economic prosperity. Ecotourism is way more viable economically in the long term. Invest in communities, invest in small businesses, not in donors from extractive industry. Study on Roadless and Water: https://journals.plos.org/water/article?id=10.1371/journal.pwat.0000538 Sources: https://www.fs.usda.gov/about-agency/features/fire-never-starts https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/roadless-map-inventoried-areas-california-lake-tahoe-fsmrs-072422.pdf https://www.americanforests.org/article/the-important-relationship-between-forests-and-water/ https://eos.com/blog/clear-cutting/ https://www.tahoefund.org/about-tahoe/tahoe-fun-facts/