Brooke L. Rollins and Tom Schultz,
I am a masters student at Colorado state university studying ecosystem science and sustainability with a focus on water resources. I am also a business owner that advocates for better water quality for all. I strongly oppose any changes to the roadless rule because it will destroy our source water supply and decrease water quality for the Cache la Poudre river basin. Hundreds of thousands of people rely on this clean water!
As a researcher, I have studied this area and seen the impacts that land change can have on the landscape and to our water quality. It is detrimental that this administration prioritizes the health of the people and the land. Water is needed for every human being on this planet and if that water is degraded, nothing can survive.
If this rule is rescinded, the area that I have studied and recreated in will be destroyed along with our source water supply. The animal populations, healthy forests, and the people that live in and around this area will be threatened. It will also increase the chance of wildfire risk in the area. It is known that the majority of wildfires start from roads.
Regarding the Comanche Peak Adjacent Area in the Arapaho & Roosevelt NFs, Colorado:
Headwater Protection for the Cache la Poudre River System — This roadless area contains the headwaters of the South Fork Cache la Poudre River and multiple tributary streams (Fall Creek, Fish Creek, Beaver Creek, Buckhorn Creek, Joe Wright Creek) that feed into the Cache la Poudre River—a major water source for downstream communities and ecosystems. The subalpine and montane riparian shrubland ecosystems in Crown Point Gulch, Dadd Gulch, and Black Hollow maintain the cold-water conditions and riparian vegetation structure that regulate stream temperature and sediment load. Removing the forest canopy and riparian buffer through road construction would expose these headwater channels to direct solar radiation and erosion, degrading water quality for federally threatened Greenback Cutthroat Trout populations that depend on cold, clear spawning habitat in these streams.
Sediment generation. Forest roads generate substantially more sediment than undisturbed forest. A heavily used gravel road segment in the Pacific Northwest delivered roughly 130 times more sediment than an abandoned road, and paved segments yielded less than 1% of the sediment from gravel surfaces (Reid & Dunne 1984; Sugden & Woods 2007). — Reid & Dunne, 1984 (https://doi.org/10.1029/WR020i011p01753); Sugden & Woods, 2007 (https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-1688.2007.00016.x)
Rescinding the Roadless Rule would open the Comanche Peak Adjacent Area, Arapaho & Roosevelt NFs to road construction and associated ground disturbance. The direct and indirect effects of that activity are precisely what makes a specific comment about this area necessary.
The forest service is well aware of the impacts that this will have on our water and land. The forest service needs to protect public land and stop bending over backwards for the people in power to make a quick buck. It is not in the best interest of the people of the United States of America or our public land that we fought for!
My comments are respectfully submitted in opposition to the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule.
With respect,
CommentID: RLC-20261006-X32Z3G