“wildfire ignition in areas within 50 meters of a road are far, far higher”
“Building more roads... will lead to more fires”
What it names
Works cited
10.1073/pnas.161739411410.1186/s42408-026-00450-2
The comment
Repealing the Roadless Rule would be an absolute disaster. The proposal states that it is in order to reduce forest fires, but this is not based in science. Including decades of research, the Fire Ecology study conducted by Gregory H. Aplet et al, showed that wildfire ignition in areas within 50 meters of a road are far, far higher (https://doi.org/10.1186/s42408-026-00450-2). In addition, 84% of fires are caused by humans, according to Balch et al’s research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. (https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1617394114)
Building more roads, with more humans present along those roads, will lead to more fires.
In addition, repealing the rule will harm our drinking water. Logging and roads lead to sediment build up, which contaminates the watershed.
I myself live in an area that relies on national forests for its drinking water and regularly hike and bird watch in several roadless areas, including the Tahoe Rim Trail, Kingsbury Stinger Trail, Sierra Canyon, and Genoa Peak. These are vital areas of subalpine woodland and mixed conifer forests that wildlife and our water sources rely on.
Please do not repeal the Roadless Rule.