To the Roadless Rule Rulemaking Docket:
As someone who knows how rarely strong protective rules get rebuilt once rescinded, I oppose this action on practical grounds.
I have spent my entire life exploring wilderness areas such as the Linville gorge, and I fear for the health of both the forest and its downstream communities if the rule is rescinded.
If this rule is rescinded, I will lose a place where I recreate, and my water quality will be lower.
Regarding the Linville Gorge Addition in the Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina:
Headwater Protection for Five Creek Systems — The Linville Gorge Addition contains the headwaters of Irish Creek, Back Creek, Mountain Creek, Reedys Fork, and Russell Creek—a network of cold-water streams that drain into the Linville River watershed, which the U.S. Forest Service classifies as Functioning Properly. These headwater streams provide spawning and rearing habitat for native fish species and maintain the cold temperatures and clean substrates that aquatic life in the broader watershed depends on. Road construction in headwater areas causes sedimentation from cut slopes and exposed soil, which smothers spawning gravels and reduces water clarity—impacts that propagate downstream and degrade water quality across the entire drainage network.
Rescinding the Roadless Rule would be a mistake the public — and the land — would be living with for generations. I'm asking the Department not to make it.
Kind regards,
CommentID: RLC-20261007-4UW221