The Roadless Area Conservation Rule (i.e. the Roadless Rule) is an important, effective tool to protect key public lands on national forests across the West. Our public lands are under threat from many pressures, including the proposed elimination of the Roadless Rule. You have until September 21 to act in support of the Rule by adding your input to the administrative record during the very short open comment period. Your comments matter because, as formal input, they become a legal instrument. While the Administration is unlikely to decide in the interest of the public, their decision to repeal the Rule will likely be challenged in court. Your comment becomes part of the record that the court will review, and this is how your voice is heard when it matters.

There are many available online resources for easily submitting your comments on the proposed repeal of the Roadless Rule. The Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) provides helpful content and a template here Tell USDA to Keep the Roadless Area Conservation Rule — Greater Yellowstone Coalition. And the Public Lands Action Network (PLAN) provides information and a comment dashboard here Stop the repeal of the Roadless Rule | How to Comment Before September 21.

These sources clearly explain the many reasons the Roadless Rule matters and provide reference to the supporting evidence. A few points that I believe are critically important are:

• Wildfires are 4 times as likely to start in roaded areas than in areas without roads and assessments show that more than 90 percent of all wildfires occur within half a mile of a road;
• Roadless areas are critically important for protection of wildlife habitat for imperiled species and migration corridors for big game species and the agency’s own analysis indicates negative consequences to many ESA-listed species and designated critical habitats;
• Areas protected from the impacts of roads are critical to our country’s supply of clean drinking water;
• The Forest Service does not have the financial resources or the staffing to maintain the enormous (380,000 miles) road system already in place, with a deferred maintenance backlog in billions of dollars, creating resource and public safety issues;
• The timber producers are not asking for a repeal of the Rule since the industry already has access to more than 100 million acres of forest land for logging.

Those of us living in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem should be aware that the proposed elimination of the Roadless Rule threatens nearly 10 million acres of undeveloped public land in Montana and Wyoming. For 25 years, the U.S. Forest Service has operated under a well- reasoned and publicly supported policy to protect these wild places from industrial development. The current administration is now willing to push those protections aside.

Thank you for acting quickly to help defend this key component of our public land heritage.

We believe that our democracy is worth protecting, and for it to survive, our elections must be free, fair, and secure. Montana elections live up to all of these standards, no matter what MAGA propaganda says.

Our team wrote an op-ed that was published in the Bozeman Daily Chronicle today titled “Gallatin Elections Are Free and Fair, so Long as Feds Don’t Interfere.” Please take a look and share it with your community (pdf).

We’re inviting you to join us in keeping Gallatin County elections free, fair, and secure. Here’s how you can:

We’ll be working together to make sure that every eligible voter can cast a ballot without intimidation, elections are administered securely and according to the law, and the results are accepted and trusted. We hope you join us.

In solidarity,

Indivisible Bozeman Steering Committee & Election Protection Committee

When you complete Election Protection forms on IndivisibileBozeman.org, please check your Spam and Promotions folders for confirmation emails. 

 We had an terrific turnout and community response for donations for families that have been
impacted by the brutal ICE raids in our community!

With very little lead time, we had over 300 protesters join the Stand Up & Wave team
PLUS a massive amount of food donations.
(What you see in the photos doesn’t come close to representing the volume of food donated.)

But hey, our country’s 250 birthday is a GREAT DAY TO PROTEST!

THANK YOU BOZEMAN!

“Remember kids, the most patriotic thing you can do is speak out against your government!”
Bryan Andrews – Independence Day (check it out!)

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