Dear Secretary of Agriculture,
I write to strongly express my opposition to the proposal to rescind or alter the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Docket FS-2025-0001). I urge the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service to select Alternative 1, the No Action alternative, and keep the Roadless Rule entirely intact.
For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has protected clean drinking water, vital wildlife habitat, and world-class recreation opportunities across millions of acres of national forests. Opening these pristine landscapes to commercial logging and expensive roadbuilding threatens fragile ecosystems, increases erosion, and fragments critical migration corridors for wildlife.
As someone who cares deeply about public lands and local nature areas like [Insert Nearby National Forest, e.g., Tahoe National Forest], I believe rolling back these safeguards is shortsighted and harmful. The Forest Service already manages a massive backlog of unmaintained roads; adding more commercial roads mismanages public resources and does not effectively reduce wildfire risks.
I ask you to abandon this proposal and preserve the 2001 Roadless Rule for future generations.