I live in Southern Illinois and have spent the last 40 years exploring the 289,000 acre Shawnee National Forest. It is one of the most biologically diverse places in the U.S. It is a fragmented forest transected by many roads. We have 3 Roadless areas that could be impacted by the repeal of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. No more roads should be built in the SNF. Roads are be built for extraction of natural resources, logging and mining. We have so little public land in Illinois and other Midwestern states. We should not lose one acre of forest to build roads in the SNF. Illinois lost 22 million acres of tallgrass prairie. Driving from Southern Illinois to Chicago mile after mile is covered with 100% corn. No more pastures or hedgerows. Most of Illinois is devoid of insects, birds, and native plants. We must protect what we have. The U.S. National Forest road system is the largest in the entire world. NO MORE ROADS on any U.S. public land.
The Forest Service should keep the Roadless Rule intact exactly as it is. Do not weaken or repeal this critical policy.
National forests are the heart of our public lands. The Roadless Area Conservation Rule protects some of the wildest forests we have left, forests that protect critical wildlife habitat and drinking water for millions. Revoking the Roadless Rule puts landscapes, wildlife, and communities at risk.
Not only is the Roadless Rule good policy, it's also wildly popular across the country, with over 600,000 people submitting comments to the US Forest Service last year in support of keeping the rule in place. And more than 20 years ago, the American people overwhelmingly called for our national forests to be protected for future generations. Revoking the Roadless Rule would destroy the natural inheritance we leave for our children.