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I am writing in opposition to the rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. I write as a citizen, landowner, outdoor enthusiast, and wildlife specialist. I have spent a career advocating for wildlife conservation and have continued my advocacy into my retirement. I retired adjacent to the Washington Jefferson National Forest because I love the concept of our national forests as mixed use resources shared by all. We are neighbors with a campground that specializes in mountain bike races and that helps maintain trails in the forest, a recording studio that draws clients to the serenity of the forest to develop and express art, several air B&Bs that derive income from their proximity to the forest, a number of country markets that benefit from tourism driven by the campgrounds and lakes in the forest, in short a thriving local economy driven by the forest as it is.
Further, roads in the US Forest system comprise eight times more miles than the entire US highway system. It is hard to believe that additional roads in the forest system are necessary, and opening up our forests for further extractive industries risks local economies.
Finally, the roadless rule has preserved contiguous habitat for untold native wildlife species, particularly for rare, threatened, and endangered plants and animals. In my region alone, there are 14 threatened and endangered species of plants and animals, and even more when state listed species are accounted for. Opening these precious habitats to roadbuilding and logging destroys the integrity of the forest, which is something we can never get back. A few unfortunately familiar phrases come to mind: Extinction is forever, and from the national musical icon Joni Mitchell, "Don't it always seem to go that you don't know what you've got till it's gone? They paved paradise, put up a parking lot."
Please leave paradise alone.