1. United States
2. N.J.
3. Letter

The Roadless Area Conservation Rule has protected nearly 59 million acres of national forest land from road construction and large-scale logging since 2001. The Department of Agriculture has already moved to nullify the Roadless Rule, but now Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) has proposed an amendment to the formerly bipartisan Wildfire Prevention Act (S. 140) to legislatively rescind it. This amendment would not only open up previously protected areas for logging and construction, it would also prevent future administrations from restoring similar protections. The amendment was recently approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and is now one step closer to becoming law. If enacted, it would remove longstanding protections for 45 millions of acres of public forests, increasing wildfire risk, threatening wildlife habitats, and degrading watersheds that provide clean drinking water. America’s public lands belong to everyone. Congress should reject this attempt to roll back longstanding protections for our national forests and preserve these lands for future generations.