I am writing this comment in regards to the Notice of Intent to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule. As someone who works in and has had the privilege to recreate in our national forests, from Mt Hood down to Lassen, Shasta-Trinity, and San Bernardino National Forest, I have grown to deeply care for these public lands and their value to local communities, wildlife, and our watersheds.
As you may have gathered, I strongly oppose rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule. I have been witness to countless wildfires over the course of my life, and with most of the 85% of human-caused wildfires igniting in close proximity to roads, building more roads in vulnerable areas will only increase the risk of fire, as stated by a study from the wilderness society that shares that wildfires are 4x more likely to ignite in roaded areas than unroaded tracts. Additionally, the Forest Service, the agency that already manages the most roads out of any other government agency, already has a $10.8 billion maintenance backlog, which is astronomical paired with the added strain on resources (not to mention the expense) to fight fires in less accessible, previously roadless areas. Forest roads also cause habitat fragmentation and harm wildfire in the majority of our national forest lands. I have regularly traveled on forest service roads for years, and to this day, the sheer scale and expanse of the road systems in our national forests still boggles my mind. Roadless areas contain some of the last remnants of intact forests across the country, and they deserve to stay that way for the sake of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem health, and future generations.
Once again, I will always oppose the revision of the Roadless Rule, and I believe that it would be wise for your agency to do what it can to follow the mission it had when it all started— protecting our forests.
— Chris Berry