I am an angler and camper from North Carolina, and I regularly travel to across the United States of America to fish, camp, and enjoy our national forests.
I oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
I support responsible forest management, including appropriate efforts to reduce hazardous fuels and wildfire risk. The Forest Service’s own proposal acknowledges that the Roadless Rule does not prohibit and has not entirely prevented hazardous-fuel-reduction activities and that agency records do not show that the absence of roads has prevented fire-prevention or fire-protection measures. See Special Areas; Roadless Area Conservation, 91 Fed. Reg. 53,827, 53,832 (Aug. 20, 2026). The case for rescission should therefore not rest on the assumption that roadless protections make responsible forest management impossible.
Additionally, the effects of more roads should not be treated as one-directional. A 2026 peer-reviewed analysis of Forest Service wildfire data from 1992–2024 found substantially higher wildfire-ignition density within 50 meters of roads than in Inventoried Roadless Areas. Gregory H. Aplet, Phil Hartger & Matthew S. Dietz, Three-Decade Record of Contiguous-U.S. National Forest Wildfires Indicates Increased Density of Ignitions Near Roads, 22 Fire Ecology 8 (2026).
I believe public lands should provide both reasonable access and places where fish, wildlife, watersheds, and relatively undeveloped recreational opportunities can remain intact. The Forest Service can address site-specific management needs without eliminating the nationwide Roadless Rule.
As an angler, I also value roadless areas for the protection they provide to intact watersheds and fish habitat. Trout Unlimited reports, based on Forest Service-supported research, that within the current range of native trout and salmon, those species are 40 percent more common in roadless areas than in roaded forest lands. Chris Wood, Testimony Before the H. Comm. on Natural Res. (May 21, 2026). The Forest Service should factor in the value of maintaining unique biodiversity in its decision.
I respectfully ask the Forest Service to withdraw the proposed rescission and retain the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
Environmental decisions made today can echo for generations. Once a landscape is fragmented by roads and development, what is lost may not be recoverable in our lifetimes. I hope the Forest Service will preserve these places so that future generations can still fish, camp, and experience the American wild as we do today.
Thank you for considering my comment.