Keep America Beautiful!

I oppose the Trump administration’s plans to develop the last remaining undeveloped lands within our national forests. The over 50 million acres of roadless areas in our national forests are an American treasure. For 25 years, the Roadless Rule has protected them from roadbuilding and logging, preserving irreplaceable wildlife habitat, sources of clean water, and recreation areas for future generations. The Trump administration’s proposal to repeal the Roadless Rule threatens all of those values. This rollback would be particularly significant for the Tongass National Forest, where eliminating the Roadless Rule would remove critical safeguards against industrial logging and damaging roadbuilding from over 9 million acres of the 17-million-acre forest. Although the proposed repeal is being justified as a wildfire-prevention measure, increasing roadbuilding will only increase wildfires because more than 80% of wildfires occur within 800 meters of roads. In addition, increasing timber production means cutting down more big, old trees. Once an old-growth tree is cut and sold, it will take longer than most human lifetimes to replace it.   Forests are not a crop to be used to line the pockets of industry executives. They sustain fish, birds, wildlife and people, filter drinking water, provide recreational opportunities and absorb and store carbon, helping us to fight climate change, and are the most resilient to wildfire. Developing these forests with roads and logging means we lose those benefits. Since older trees absorb and store more carbon than their younger counterparts, it is especially important that we keep these forests standing right now while we have the greatest ability to mitigate climate change.  These lands belong to all Americans, not the timber industry. The pristine lands protected by the Roadless Rule provide an extraordinary landscape for numerous backcountry recreation activities; sustain sensitive wildlife species that need undeveloped lands and cannot survive without them; and provide clean, clear drinking water for communities across the country. Without protection for these roadless lands, all of those benefits will be jeopardized. I urge you to keep the Roadless Rule and protect our forests.