I am a long time resident of Western North Carolina and an active participant in the outdoor economy and outdoor recreation community. National Forests are important economic assets that attract visitors, support rural communities, help businesses recruit and retain employees, and provide the landscapes upon which many outdoor recreation businesses depend.
I oppose the rescission of the Roadless Rule as it impacts the opportunities of those that rely on Public Lands. My concern is not with thoughtful, site-specific forest management. Rather, eliminating a durable national framework across millions of acres creates economic uncertainty for recreation businesses and communities that have made long-term investments around these public lands.
The Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests encompass approximately 1.045 million acres. Within these forests are 33 Inventoried Roadless Areas encompassing approximately 152,000 acres. Of that total, approximately 123,243 acres—nearly 12 percent of the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests—would lose existing Roadless Rule protections under the proposed rescission.
These lands provide something increasingly difficult to replicate: large, substantially unfragmented landscapes within one of the most heavily visited outdoor recreation regions in the Southeast. The comparatively undeveloped character of these landscapes is itself part of the recreational experience our communities offer.
North Carolina's roadless areas include landscapes associated with some of the state's most recognizable recreation destinations.
The Cheoah Bald forms a prominent forested landscape immediately adjacent to the Nantahala River, one of the Southeast's best-known whitewater recreation destinations. Roadless Areas are associated with hiking, backpacking, mountain biking, climbing, hunting, fishing, and other forms of outdoor recreation throughout the Southern Appalachians.
The economic value of these landscapes extends beyond businesses operating directly within their boundaries. Visitors traveling to Western North Carolina to paddle, fish, hike, mountain bike, climb, hunt, or explore National Forest lands also purchase lodging, meals, fuel, equipment, guide services, retail goods, and other services in nearby communities. This creates an estimated 48,000 jobs and $4.9 billion outdoor economy in Western North Carolina.
The Nantahala River, which runs along the Cheoah Bald Roadless Area supports 12 permitted rafting outfitters, which combined facilitate over 100,000 commercial rafting guests on the river. Additionally, commercial canoe & kayak instruction permits and guided fly-fishing outfitters rely on the Nantahala. Over 10,000 non-commercial paddlers visit the Nantahala River annually. All of whom rely on the local businesses. America Outdoors Association reported strong concern among its outfitter and guide members regarding broad rescission and its potential effects on recreation businesses.
Local Forest Service managers appropriately need flexibility and precision to address local circumstances. A more durable approach to precision would evaluate proposed changes according to local conditions, demonstrated management needs, economic impacts, and meaningful stakeholder participation. The Forest Service should also consider its existing infrastructure responsibilities and carefully evaluate the long-term maintenance obligations created by additional roads and the opportunity cost of directing limited resources toward new infrastructure rather than maintaining infrastructure already serving the public.
Therefore, I support the Forest Service in the following solutions:
retaining national safeguards for Inventoried Roadless Areas; providing meaningful opportunities for stakeholder participation and input before significant changes to individual roadless areas; Evaluating the economic consequences of changes to roadless-area management, with particular attention to recreation occurring within and adjacent to Inventoried Roadless Areas, permitted commercial operations, gateway communities, and businesses; allowing targeted, locally justified management actions where road construction or other activities are demonstrated to be necessary for wildfire mitigation, forest health, community safety, emergency response, or essential public access; prioritizing maintenance of existing National Forest infrastructure that supports public use and local economies; and, providing long-term regulatory predictability so businesses and communities can continue making investments based upon reasonable expectations around management of nearby public lands.
The approximately 123,000 acres of Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest lands that would lose Roadless Rule protections include forested mountains, watersheds, trails, fisheries, scenic river corridors, and backcountry landscapes that contribute to Western North Carolina's identity as an outdoor destination. They are assets impossible to recreate elsewhere.