1. United States
2. Ohio
3. Letter

I am writing as your constituent to urge you to co-sponsor and pass the Roadless Area Conservation Act (S. 2042 / H.R. 3930) to permanently codify the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule into federal law. This is not a hypothetical fight. On August 18, 2026, the USDA formally proposed to fully rescind the Roadless Rule, filing a draft environmental impact statement that would strip protections from approximately 44.7 million acres of national forest, including the Tongass in Alaska. The public comment period is open now and closes September 21, 2026—leaving only 9 days before the window closes on a decision that would undo 25 years of protection for nearly a third of the National Forest System. Idaho and Colorado operate under state-specific administrative rules, but only federal statutory codification will extend nationwide, permanent protection that is truly beyond the reach of any executive reversal. For over two decades, the Roadless Rule has protected roughly 58.5 million acres of inventoried roadless areas across 38 states from commercial logging and destructive road construction. Because these protections exist only as an administrative regulation, they remain subject to reversal every time executive leadership changes—which is exactly what is happening right now. Codifying the Roadless Rule is vital for several critical reasons: - Drinking Water Security: Inventoried roadless areas contain or feed 354 municipal watersheds that supply clean, affordable drinking water to over 60 million Americans, significantly reducing municipal water treatment costs. - Wildfire Mitigation and Fiscal Responsibility: Peer-reviewed research shows that wildfire ignitions are up to four times more likely within 50 meters of a road than in roadless areas, with ignition density dropping steadily further into the backcountry. Expanding road networks increases human-caused ignition risks while adding to the Forest Service’s multi-billion-dollar road maintenance backlog. Crucially, the Roadless Rule already contains explicit exceptions for public safety, emergency fire response, and fuel reduction. - Biodiversity and Habitat Protection: These undeveloped lands provide intact migration corridors and critical habitat for more than 1,600 threatened, endangered, and sensitive species while serving as natural carbon sinks. - Economic Value: Outdoor recreation on federal public lands—including hunting, angling, hiking, and tourism—generates over $128 billion in annual economic output and directly supports local gateway communities. Public lands belong to all Americans, not to whichever administration is currently in office or to short-term extractive interests. I urge you to support the Roadless Area Conservation Act (S. 2042 / H.R. 3930) and enact permanent statutory protection for our nation’s remaining wild forests before administrative rescission takes that choice out of Congress’s hands.