FS-2025-0001-605293

I am an environmental chemist. My work is dedicated to preserving and protecting water quality for people and the environment. Much of my research focuses on how healthy, intact forests perform numerous ecosystem services that clean and store our freshwater resources. I am also an avid recreation user of backcountry areas of our national forest system, having lived in Oregon, Washington, and Montana in addition to my current home in Vermont. I know and love many places that would be affected by the proposed rescission of the Roadless Rule and have several concerns as a scientist and citizen. Our national forest system was created around the turn of the 20th century to protect water quality. I’m concerned that new roads would lead to pollution of these vital watersheds, which is all the more important as new water demands (data centers, critical minerals extraction, and more) require further water resources. Roads and their construction increase erosion and pollution to the few remaining clean river systems we have left in our country. Forested lands generate higher quality water because microorganisms in soil and plant roots filter out contaminants before water arrives at treatment facilities. Cleaner water requires less treatment and processing, thus reducing treatment costs for public utilities and the taxpayer. Across the country, a growing number of water utilities are investing in watershed protection as a means to reduce cost and limit chemical use as demand for water rises. The rationale for the proposed rule does not take water quality into account. This is an oversight, as a recent study from the University of Washington and Conservation Science Partners published this summer in PLOS Water demonstrates that the Roadless Rule supports the drinking water supply for 25 million Americans (Olden et al. 2026). The results of Olden and colleagues show that rescinding the Roadless Rule would diminish protections for rivers and may deteriorate drinking water quality and affordability, reduce recreational opportunities, and threaten freshwater biodiversity. Maintaining the current Roadless Rule protections is thus critical for sustaining ecosystem services, supporting human well-being, and advancing broader conservation and resilience goals under increasing water demands. I urge the decision makers to review the proposal with water quality safeguarding as a key criterion. Olden, Julian D., Sandra L. Postel, Michael P. Dombeck, Helen Kesting, Patrick Freeman, and Lise Comte. 2026. “Assessing the Value of the U.S. Roadless Rule for People and Nature.” PLOS Water 5 (7): e0000538. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pwat.0000538.