“Road construction destroys rare plant populations including native orchids”
“hastening the colonization of otherwise healthy forests by invasive species”
“Wilderness areas should remain pristine”
“protected in perpetuity for future generations”
What it names
Works cited
Andrews et al. 2015
The comment
I am deeply opposed to ANY rescinding of he roadless rule. As a documenter of rare species including rare plants, reptiles, amphibians, and birds, I’m well aware that roads fragment forests, motorized traffic disturbs wildlife, and pollutes the air. Road construction destroys rare plant populations including native orchids. Road noise and human disturbance cause imperiled bird species to retreat from and abandon traditional nesting territories. Roads create harmful edge effects sometimes 600’ wide, hastening the colonization of otherwise healthy forests by invasive species, predation of native wildlife by non-native predators such as outdoor house cats, and attract nest parasites such as Cowbirds. Wilderness areas should remain pristine. They constitute US citizens’ natural heritage and should be protected in perpetuity for future generations, rather than be exploited by commercial interests.
Thank you for rejecting this preposterous proposal.