Comment from Elaine DiMasi

I am writing because I very strongly oppose the revision to the National Park Service’s wilderness stewardship policy under Director’s Order 41 - this is part of a plan to weaken protection for wilderness study areas. I am aware that in order to potentially set aside new wilderness areas for the future, these study areas must themselves remain unspoiled. Policies protecting these recommended, proposed, and eligible wilderness areas are supposed to support the duty the agencies have, to keep the wild country managed, remain roadless, and not be disqualified from future designation as permanent wilderness. This is a premise, rooted in the Wilderness Act, to hold wild land intact for the future. A future Congress needs to have the option to permanently protect our land. Logging and motor vehicles cross out that potential for our future. What right have we to erase the decision making of the future? We are already rich in resources, even wasteful of them, in the USA. It is wrong for one generation to write in a permanent loss - votes of Congress would not be able to reverse the damage or change the designation of disturbed land. I am a professional research scientist and I grew up in Pennsylvania, a state with several experimental forests in the national forest system, and a wealth of green space. And I also know the profound difference between the managed near-wilderness of Pennsylvania and the areas in the Western states where I've visited near the true wilderness areas. Some plants, animals, and birds can live on the edge of human communities - but there are vast ecosystems that only thrive far away from these settled edges. I don't see any evidence that the agency has a reason for changing the way we preserve opportunities for the future. The weight of public opinion is very much against it, for anyone who learns about what the agencies are doing. I frankly find it terrifying that with no scientific backing and no thought for the future, this Administration could make a change of this magnitude to our future lives. Humanity cannot survive without unspoiled nature and clean green space. The existing standards should be preserved, and our wild lands should be protected. I attached a picture of redwoods in Northern California, taken by myself. This should remind us that we are always enjoying our forests, even from the roads, but that the moment we touch them with our intrusion, we are creating something other. The only true preservation can be the unspoiled wilderness.