1. United States
2. Idaho
3. Letter

Vote to block the Forest Service's plan to roll back the Roadless Rule. The original rule, approved in 2001 after 600 public hearings over two years, protects 45 million acres of national forest from road construction, logging, and mining. Rolling it back without a single public meeting violates the spirit of federal law requiring public comment before major land-use changes. I've attended a people's hearing because the Forest Service refused to hold official ones. What I learned alarmed me. Places I've hiked and hunted could be opened to clear-cutting and mining. The Tongass, the largest intact temperate rainforest in the world where people have lived for 10,000 years, faces destruction. Arizona's 1.1 million roadless acres could be scarred by roads and mines. These lands provide climate resiliency, wildlife habitat, clean water, and spaces where veterans heal from trauma. The rushed process and absence of public meetings is anti-democracy. Americans overwhelmingly oppose this rollback, and our testimony will prove it when the comment period opens next month. Stand with your constituents and protect roadless areas.