“Do not remove protections without a clear replacement framework”
“explicitly allows for emergency fire suppression, prescribed burns, and fuels treatments”
Attachments
1 file from International Mountain Bicycling Association. Counts as 853 — Counted from the files: The enclosed submissions were counted from the files themselves.
Enclosed submissions
The comment
In addition to an organizational comment submitted separately, the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) collected and has attached 326 unique letters as well as 853 signatures on the comment below. This totals comments submitted by 1,179 total individual citizens. In the attached document the 853 signatures are on pages 1-29 followed by the 326 unique letters on pages 30-142.
As a mountain biker and constituent who cares about America’s public lands, I urge you to oppose the rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule.
The Roadless Rule is not an extreme protection, it is a practical balance. It shields 45 million acres of National Forest land from permanent road construction and industrial logging while still allowing mountain biking, hiking, motorized recreation, hunting and fishing. It explicitly allows for emergency fire suppression, prescribed burns, and fuels treatments near communities. What it prevents is permanent, irreversible development that would fragment trail networks and degrade the backcountry character communities depend on.
Approximately 10,794 miles of trails open to mountain bikes fall within affected areas, part of a broader recreation network anchoring a $1.2 trillion outdoor recreation economy and 5 million American jobs.
Please oppose this wholesale rescission. Do not remove protections without a clear replacement framework that continues to protect these 45 million acres of our public lands.