Comment from Alexander Butterfield

I firmly oppose any revision to the National Park Service’s wilderness stewardship policy under Director’s Order 41 that would weaken protection for wilderness study areas, lands with wilderness characteristics, and all recommended, proposed, or eligible wilderness designations. Do not let the phrase "non-binding guidance" obscure the weight of these policies. They represent a fundamental legal obligation to keep wild, roadless country unmarred until Congress determines its ultimate destiny. These rules protect a FINITE natural legacy, keeping the door open for future permanent preservation. The stakes are absolute: introducing roads, logging, or motorized recreation permanently erases the wilderness qualities that make these lands special. In the realm of public land policy, where rules change constantly, this specific type of destruction is final and impossible to undo. There is absolutely no valid justification for reversing decades of successful land protection. Stripping these safeguards without a factual basis — especially when the public clearly objects — is entirely arbitrary and capricious. I urge the agency to keep the current standards exactly as they are. Do not lower the bar for conservation, and ensure our wild lands stay protected just as they have been for generations. Our family has backpacked for generations in protected Wilderness -- Wyoming's Bridger Wilderness, Jedediah Smith Wilderness and Cloud Peak Wilderness, Idaho's Sawtooth Wilderness, Washington's Goat Rocks Wilderness and California's Ansel Adams Wilderness. All of these Wilderness areas have spectacular scenery easily rivaling some of our best National Parks. However, their beauty is amplified by freedom from development, roads, vehicles and the noise that comes with all of that. Wilderness has a raw, primal beauty that all of us should experience and cherish; it changes you, but once we lose it, it is gone forever.