Dear Secretary Rollins:
As an outdoor enthusiast, and mother who is doing her best to raise outdoor kids in an indoor world, rescinding the 2001 rule is a fundamental change, and NOT for the better.
I have gone on a rafting trip down one of these waterways, and the experience cannot be replicated without the protections from the 2001 Rule. The quality of the water, the icy temperatures even in late summer, the untouched wilderness, all contribute to a life altering experience. These experiences cannot be taken for granted. It cannot be assumed that they can be shared by any similar waterway - these areas are protected because they are unique.
I visited this area 3 times in the last 5 years. I first went with my husband and son, when my son was 2 years old. The landscape and environment we experienced was breathtaking. It was so impactful that my son asked to go again, not even a year later. 2 years after that, we came again with my daughter, when she was 2. All visits were in winter, by the way. To travel ten+ hours with young kids is no easy task, but it was worth it to visit an area this pristine.
Regarding the Resurrection in the Chugach National Forest, Alaska:
The watershed of the Resurrection IRA, Chugach National Forest, functions as a natural water filtration and storage system. Its headwater streams maintain baseflow through dry periods and buffer peak flows during storms — hydrological services that road construction disrupts at the most fundamental level.
"Solar insolation in riparian canopy openings increased daily maximum and average temperatures, but did not affect daily minima. During the day, maximum temperatures increased 1.5–2.5°C within the opening. However, just 40 m after the stream returns to forest cover, the residual temperature increase was only about 0.5°C. Streams that experienced the greatest temperature increases within the opening tended to drain smaller watersheds and experienced a large difference in canopy cover when moving from the reference section into the opening."
— Hydrological Processes (Wiley/NSF PAR), 2020
Road surfaces in the Resurrection IRA, Chugach National Forest, would function as impervious collectors — compacted, unvegetated surfaces that shed rainfall as overland flow rather than allowing infiltration. Cut slopes expose bare mineral soil that erodes with every rain event. Fill slopes, composed of unconsolidated material pushed downhill during construction, slump and deliver sediment to drainages for decades after construction.
Rolling back this rule would devastate this area, along with countless others that are no longer protected. The likelihood of new invasive species could have dramatic effects on plants and wildlife in the area. The environmental impacts of building new roads and the traffic it would bring would absolutely harm the salmon population, not only impacting the bears and therefore the entire food chain in that area, but also decimating livelihoods of those in the wild salmon and tourism industry. The risk is immense, to both animals and humans. The gain is little, to a handful of corporations. It doesn't take much thought to realize these areas should remain protected.
Kind regards,
CommentID: RLC-20261007-IFCR2F