This September, the public was given just 21 days to weigh in on the government’s intent to rescind the Roadless Rule. The response was overwhelming: Over 99 percent of the 183,000 comments submitted argued against removing protection for public lands without roads. Yet the Administration is pushing to open up these lands to logging and other uses that will impact water supplies and wildlife.
What’s needed, says Ben Long, is fixing up the many damaged existing roads on our national forests, along with other, long-delayed maintenance projects.