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Tell the Forest Service: Keep the Roadless Rule
USDA has proposed to scrap the 2001 Roadless Rule, which has kept new roads and industrial logging out of about 44 million acres of national forest for 25 years. We need this rule to protect our forests from exploitation; where roads are built, destruction follows. The USDA's own analysis doesn't support that claim. It estimates that rescission could add at most $5–11 million a year in timber revenue, while the Forest Service already carries a $6.9 billion backlog in repairing its roads. Meanwhile, national forests with roadless areas draw about 125 million visits a year; roadless areas include 354 municipal watersheds that millions depend on for clean water, and 76% of voters support conserving forests rather than developing them. Public comments become part of the official record, and the agency must answer the substantive ones. Our ready-to-file comment is built on the Department's own numbers, on procedure, and on precedent: the kind of case decision-makers have to address. It takes about two minutes, and it puts your voice in front of the people who will decide. The deadline is October 6. Add your name, then add a sentence about why these forests matter to you.
