In Central Oregon, there are thousands of acres of Roadless Areas in the Deschutes National Forest and Ochoco National Forest. These areas have protected wildlife habitat, boosted the economies through outdoor recreation and ensured clean drinking water for nearly 25 years.
As a frequent visitor to these public lands, I oppose the USDA’s proposal to eliminate, alter, or weaken the Roadless Rule, which would reduce protections across nearly millions of acres of public lands managed by the US Forest Service nationwide.
I urge you to choose the No Action alternative and maintain full Roadless Rule protections for America's wild forests.
Rescinding the Roadless Rule is impractical and dangerous. In Central Oregon, opening roadless areas to logging will not yield a meaningful economic return. Instead, increasing roads will damage recreation areas, scenic views, and wildlife habitat, and eliminate the reasons people choose to live, work, and recreate in Central Oregon. More roads also mean more fires: research shows wildfires are four times more likely to ignite near roads. More roads will also degrade drinking watersheds. In Central Oregon, the Bend Municipal Watershed begins in the headwaters of Bridge Creek and Tumalo Creek in the Deschutes National Forest. Losing Roadless protections will threaten water quality for more than 100,000 people in Bend, and tens of millions of people across the country.
Rescinding the Roadless Rule also makes our forests far less resilient. Roads spread invasive species, disrupt wildlife corridors, and erode forest resilience in the face of rapidly shifting wildfire regimes.
Please abandon this misguided effort to repeal the Roadless Rule and instead strengthen protections for America’s roadless forests for all the clean water, climate resilience, recreation, and habitat for biodiversity they provide.
Robin Smith
Bend, OR