From The President: Keep It Roadless

I was talking with a colleague today and he asked,

“Why should I even bother to comment on the proposal to rescind the roadless rule? It won’t make a difference. They don’t care about my opinion.”

I told him he was 100 percent wrong.

two hunters overlooking beautiful, pristine roadless area sunset — Hunting and fishing economies rely on roadless areas.

Our public lands help to define the freedoms inherent in being American.

Roadless areas are the best of what remains of those lands. They filter clean water for millions of Americans. They support some of the finest fishing and hunting on the planet. They are a refuge for endangered species; although they occupy just two percent of the American land base, they provide habitat for 25 percent of our endangered species.  

trout underwater roadless area — Roadless areas create prime habitat for our favorite trout.

Arguments that the 2001 Roadless Rule prevents forest health treatments in roadless areas are belied by the Forest Service’s own data. Its research demonstrates that treatments to reduce the risk of unnaturally intense fires are more numerous in roadless areas than they do on other forested areas of the national forest system.

Research from the Forest Service’s Rocky Mountain Research Station concluded that the 2001 Roadless Rule has not prevented fuel treatment or led to substantially more fire.

Their report states:

“Agency management records show that a lack of roads has not stopped fire prevention measures; fuel management activities in roadless areas have actually been more numerous on a per-square kilometer basis than elsewhere in the National Forest System…”

fuels treatment roadless area — The Roadless Rule allows for forest management activities to reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfire.

Additional analysis by Trout Unlimited based on Forest Service data found that hazardous fuels treatment projects in roadless areas have reduced fire risk to nearly two million acres across the nation. Moreover, 85% of all wildfires are human-caused and about 80% of human-caused fires on National Forests nationwide start within half a mile of a road.

The proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule is a classic example of a solution in search of a problem.

It will re-ignite controversies that had all but disappeared over the past 25 years. Paradoxically, this controversy will hamper the Forest Service’s goal of increasing timber production from national forests because the agency will lose the social license they need to conduct more forest health treatments adjacent to communities of people—places that are almost by definition, not roadless areas.

There are innumberable ways to explore roadless areas.

Back to my colleague that wondered about the value of commenting on the proposal to rescind the Roadless Rule…. I gave him three reasons that explained why he should make his voice heard. 

First, these are our not the King’s Forests. These are our lands and waters and managed for us in trust. If enough sportsmen and women—a very influential constituency—make their opposition known, decisionmakers will listen.

Second, elected leaders must be responsive to the views of their constituents, lest they become former elected officials. Reaching out to your elected leadersabout the need for protecting roadless areas is particularly important.

Finally, conservation is a long game. The more overwhelming the support for protecting such a vital part of what it means to be an American citizen, the easier it will become to reinstate the protections of the roadless rule down the line.

Please take a moment to register your support for keeping intact our roadless areas.

Urgent Action: Keep it Roadless

Submit your comment now and urge USDA to keep strong protections in place for roadless areas. Your personal note about why the roadless rule matters to you makes a real difference.

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