Transmitted by Fax to: (801) 517-1014 November 15, 2004   U. S. Forest Service - Content Analysis Team Attention: Roadless State Petitions P. O. Box 221090 Salt Lake City, UT 84122 Re: Proposed Rulemaking Special Areas, State Petitions for Inventoried Roadless Area Management, 69 Fed. Reg. 42636 (July 16, 2004) Dear Forest Service Chief Bosworth: The Property Rights Foundation of America represents involved American citizens from every state of the Union, from Hawaii and Alaska, from Washington and California to Maine and Florida. The Property Rights Foundation of America would like to enter its support for the new roadless area regulation proposed on July 16, 2004 that is intended to replace the 2001 rule. A complete, well-designed roadway infrastructure is essential to Forest Service lands. It is the benefit of the health of forests and to federal lands in general to maintain access to all Forest Service lands, whether actively used for sustainable forestry, mining, recreation, or other purposes, or relatively less used as remote backcountry lands. It is essential that local participation, productive multiple use of federally owned forests, economic vitality of the locality and the nation, and historic roadway uses be paramount in decisions about roadway access to federal lands. Roadway access to the forest lands under the U.S. Forest Service must be fully maintained and improved in order to maintain the forests, protect them from extreme fires, save wildlife, and preserve the diverse wildlife habitat. The system of neglect and an extremist agenda to close access has resulted in the destruction of millions of acres of forest and wildlife, cruelly killing millions of wild creatures including endangered species, destroying habitat, polluting the air and water, and wastefully destroying natural resources that are essential to the productive local and national economy. We support the Forest Service in its efforts to repair the incorrect application of NEPA in the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. An informed process should replace the 2001 process, which was biased by a one-sided radical preservation agenda that is harmful to the environment in the extreme. In the process that resulted in the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, substantive concerns raised by the public and by local, state and federal officials were inexplicably ignored. The proposed rule results from justified consideration of these concerns. Sincerely,   Carol W. LaGrasse President

Back to:

© 2004 Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc.
All rights reserved. This material may not be broadcast, published, rewritten or redistributed without written permission.