Letter: It’s important to protect the Roadless Rule
The bombardment from this administration is so constant, it makes me want to hide out for the next two years. But I cant. I feel we all have a responsibility to ourselves and to future generations to protect the beautiful lands we enjoy in Utah and across the nation, and to hold them for future generations.
Wendell Barry’s saying, “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors. We borrow it from our children,” could not be truer. We want our public lands protected.
For the past 35 years, the Roadless Rule has protected national forests. If the Roadless Rule is rescinded, 44,000 acres in Utah, some of our favorite hiking, biking, hunting spots will be open to the timber industry under the false pretense that rescinding the rule will allow fire mitigation.
The forest service already has billions in management backlog, and over 370,000 miles of roads to care for. If Trump really cared about our forests, he would increase rather than reduce funding. Instead, he is assuring us logging trucks will rumble down some of our favorite trails in the Uintas, Logan Canyon, Wasatch mountains, and Southern Utah.
The roadless rule allows fire mitigation. It protects our watersheds, species migration patterns and habitat, and since more fires start near roads, it protects from fires.
Besides, our forests are wonderful carbon sinks, helping lessen air pollution and the damaging effects of climate change. We need to speak for them. It is simple. You can send your comment here: sc.org/roadlessrule.
Patty Becnel
Ogden