Let USFS do its job

Replying to “Keep backcountry roadless area protections across the West,” (Paul Fish, Dec. 1).

Have we forgotten the smoke and the fires?

We do not have ancient forests in the West. We have dense, fire prone, secondary growth forests.

Does the Roadless Rule actually protect the forests or only prevent forest management? It has been the U.S. Forest Service and other federal government lands that have contributed the most to our recent smoke and fire seasons. When hundreds of thousands of acres of forest burn in our state, watersheds, habitat, animal life and recreational opportunities are destroyed, not to mention the economic losses.

If you have occasion to drive Sherman Pass, you will see active forest management. They are logging and thinning the forest. It looks ugly now, but it will prevent a future fire in that area.

When the forests are restored to health, we can consider how much land to set aside for habitat and recreation.

Let the U.S. Forest Service do its job of managing our forests or the legacy we leave will be ashes.

Yes, by all means, comment on the proposal to eliminate the Roadless Rule in the Tongass National Forest in Alaska! This change is long overdue.

Ritajane Boyce

Spokane Valley