“camping trips to Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, and the Cohutta Wilderness”
What it names
Roadless areas
Smoky Mountains
The comment
I strongly support continuing protections for roadless areas.
I have been fortunate to visit Yosemite National Park with my grandparents and have returned many times as an adult with family and friends. I have also traveled to Wyoming to backpack in Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park, and I have taken camping trips to Acadia, Great Smoky Mountains, and the Cohutta Wilderness.
These experiences have shown me firsthand how valuable protected, undeveloped lands are. These areas provide critical habitat for countless species and protect ecosystems that cannot simply be replaced or replicated elsewhere. Once these intact landscapes are fragmented or developed, the biodiversity and ecological functions they support may be permanently affected.
Roadless areas are an important part of our natural heritage, and protecting them means preserving opportunities for future generations to experience these places as we have. I hope these protections will continue so that our children, grandchildren, and generations to come can enjoy and learn from these irreplaceable ecosystems.