In June, the very unpopular plan to sell off our national parks and national forests got axed from the “Big Beautiful Budget Bill” by rebelling Republican Senators. The Trump Administration turned around and immediately announced plans to eliminate the Roadless Rule, which has been vital to preserving forests, habitat and clean water since 2001.

National forests are in the cross-hairs.

Without the Roadless Rule, the administration can build miles more roads and access unspoiled forest refuges. Their plan is to cut down millions more trees than any harvest period since the peak around 1990, and to expand on that goal by 25 percent each year. If accomplished, Connecticut residents would suffer reverberating losses of our sources of clean water, wildlife habitat, hunting grounds, fishing waters and recreation space.

There are already 370,000 miles of roads in national forests, more than double the miles in the federal highway system.  Statistics tell us more than 85 percent of wildfires are human-caused: by campfires left unattended; equipment malfunctions; discarded cigarettes; and intentional arson. People get there to set those fires, by mistake or otherwise, via roads. Most wildfire ignitions start on land within 50 yards of roads.

Connecticut doesn’t have a national forest, but our residents enjoy our New England neighbors’ Green Mountain National Forest of Vermont and White Mountain National Forest that crosses New Hampshire’s state line into Maine.  Accelerated logging will impact our retreats to those forests, and threaten the health of the Connecticut River ecosystem. Camping, or a hike or cross country ski in a barren landscape of stumps hardly has the same appeal. Likewise your hunting prospects?

With forests to act as natural filters, water runoff, pollution and sediment are slowed or stopped from entering the river. Forests along riverbanks provide shade that cools water temperatures, critical for fish habitat, and offer food sources for aquatic insects and fish. Trees intercept rain and their roots stabilize soil. Clearing forests increases contaminants coming down river to us here, especially in this era of extreme rainfalls. Flooding becomes more frequent and severe. Without trees, the river is more prone to flash floods, bank erosion, and habitat loss on land and in water.

The river is a prime source of drinking water and agricultural water for Connecticut. Deep wells draw from aquifers connected to the river’s watershed. But the river is susceptible to contamination, particularly during times of heavy rains and flooding.

The Connecticut River ecosystem is already experiencing shifts due to climate change. Forest loss compounds these effects, reducing the watershed’s ability to buffer fluctuations in temperature, precipitation, and storm intensity. The Roadless Area Conservation Act, (RACA) now pending before the Senate, will provide lasting protection for inventoried roadless areas within the National Forest system, making the U.S. Forest Service’s Roadless Rule into federal law, to protect over 58 million acres of national forest wilderness from logging and development.

Let’s leave logging and timber production to the private landowners who already supply 96 percent of the nation’s need for timber. About 360 million acres of forest belonging to individuals, families, investment entities and corporations make their living – and profits – addressing those needs. Why should our taxpayer-funded government run up costs to compete with them?

We want our publicly-owned forests preserved for our health and enjoyment, and for our children and grandchildren, to be managed by stewards whose priority is protecting a precious resource. Let’s ask our Congressional representatives to sign the bill, and to lean on their Senate colleagues to help preserve forests that we love and value for our resources, quality of life, and our future.

Lea Sloan of Old Saybrook is a member of the Old-Growth Forest Network.