Dear Forest Service Officials,
As a public land hunter, angler, and conservationist, I strongly oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
I grew up in the North Carolina mountains where I learned to fish and mountain bike in the Pisgah National Forest. Since graduating college, I've spent the past 25 years hunting, fishing, working, and recreating in national forests across the lower 48 States including the Arapaho and Custer Gallatin National Forests. When I visit my mom and sister every year, I take my wife and two girls back to the Pisgah National Forest. When we visit my wife's mom in Utah, we visit the Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest. The 2001 Roadless Rule has yielded these healthy and productive public lands that my family and I hunt, fish, bike, and hike. I strongly oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
The 2001 Roadless Rule has successfully protected millions of acres of pristine national forest lands, safeguarding critical fish and wildlife habitats, ensuring clean water supplies, and preserving high-quality backcountry hunting and fishing traditions. Rescinding this durable baseline policy would fragment vital wildlife corridors, increase long-term management and road-maintenance backlogs, and permanently alter our remaining wild landscapes.
Rather than dismantling a proven conservation framework, the USDA should select Alternative 1 (the No Action Alternative) and maintain full protections for our roadless areas.
Sincerely,
Mathew Levine
Naples, NY