Action Alert: Submit comments to save the Roadless Rule!

Coast to Cascades Bird Alliance Action Alert: Save the widely popular Roadless Rule!

Did you know that wildfires are four times more likely to start in areas with roads than in roadless areas? Since 2001, the Roadless Rule has protected approximately 45 million acres, nearly 2 million in Oregon, from logging, mining, and human-caused fire.  The Roadless Rule protects clean air and water and critical carbon sinks. It provides outdoor recreation (a rapidly growing segment of our economy) and opportunities for people to bird, hike, rock climb, forage, bike, fish, camp, engage in outdoor photography, and ski. The Roadless Rule protects countless species, many of which are species of concern, and keeps their habitats from being degraded and fragmented. Despite overwhelming public opposition, the administration is still moving to rescind the Rule.  Elimination of the Roadless Rule will enrich a few corporations at the expense of the taxpaying public and future generations.

***Your voice matters. Submit your comments here!***

According to the administration’s own Draft Environmental Impact Statement, rescinding the Roadless Rule would:

• Increase the risk of wildfire.
• Increase the introduction and spread of invasive species.
• Result in a loss of $9 million in annual visitor spending in local communities near wilderness areas.
• “Adversely affect” 327 threatened and endangered species. In Oregon, the list includes Bull Trout, Chinook Salmon, Chum Salmon, Coho Salmon, Marbled Murrelet, Northern Spotted Owl, Oregon Silverspot Butterfly, Oregon Spotted Frog, Sierra Nevada Red Fox, and Steelhead, among others.
• Be a “major source of water quality degradation.” Communities like Bend, Eugene, La Grande, Ashland, and others in Oregon receive drinking water from these watersheds.
• Release more carbon, worsen the climate crisis, and practically eliminate old-growth forest.
• Undermine tribal interests (“the administration found that “the majority sentiment among Tribal governments consulted is opposition to the proposed rescission.”)
• Significantly inflate the deferred road maintenance backlog, which is already over $6.9 billion.

We have a time-limited opportunity to remind authorities that wilderness benefits everybody. The best way to make a difference is to increase the number of comments in opposition to eliminating the Roadless Rule. It’s fine to sign on to petitions that are circulating around the web but despite the number of signatures, these group letters count as only one comment.  Please take a few minutes to submit your individual comments to https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FS-2025-0001-223869

If you use some of these public lands- the Metolius River, Lost Lake, the Oregon Dunes, Mount Hebo, Hardesty Mountain, Tumalo Mountain, the Upper Hood River Valley- say so in your comments. Feel free to include any parts of this message as talking points. The comment period is open until September 21 at 9pm.

***Your voice matters. Submit your comments here!***