Momoko, the USDA just released its proposed rule to fully repeal the Roadless Area Conservation Rule—dismantling a critical conservation measure that protects 45 million acres of national forest lands from roadbuilding and logging.
This reckless action will imperil vital wildlife habitat, cut off millions of people from recreational access and dramatically increase the risk of wildfires at a time when drastic budget cuts are already hampering the U.S. Forest Service's ability to respond to deadly, destructive fires.
The Wilderness Society is on the front lines of the fight to defend our forests, and we need your support to ramp up our response in the crucial days ahead. Will you rush an emergency gift to help protect our forests and public lands?
Our nation's forests provide us with abundant resources: Clean drinking water for our communities. Special places to hike, camp and enjoy our freedom to explore. Healthy ecosystems that support vulnerable wildlife.
But once these forests' towering trees have been cut to mere stumps...once roads have been paved through their dense underbrush...they will be forever changed. There is no "undo" button.
And despite the administration's claims that repealing the Roadless Rule will allow for "wildfire risk reduction", opening up our nation's backcountry forests to more roads and industrial development will never be a solution to the growing threat of wildfires. In fact, research shows that wildfires are four times more likely to start near roads than in roadless forests.
Repealing the Roadless Rule achieves nothing but making it easier for private corporations to log, mine and develop the lands that belong to all of us. The Wilderness Society's team of organizers, lawyers, policy experts and researchers are working around the clock to defend our forests and other public lands from the administration's relentless attacks, and we urgently need your help to keep it going!
Please pitch in with an emergency gift today to immediately strengthen our work for the forests and other wild places we all share.
Thank you for your support, Momoko—everything we do to protect America's forests and other public lands is only possible thanks to the commitment of people like you.
— Your friends at The Wilderness Society
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