I am Susan Kirkpatrick, the Executive Director of the Colorado state office of the National Audubon Society. One of my colleagues, Vera Smith, the public policy specialist for the Colorado Mountain Club, has asked me to add her organization's support to the policy announced today to protect National Forest Roadless Areas. The National Audubon Society has more than 10,000 members in Colorado. Our members are most closely associated with bird watching though we have historically demonstrated a passion for conservation and habitat protection.
Many birds rely on deep forests to escape predators and competitors.
Wildlife species that don't mix well with humans like the lynx and the mountain lion also need undeveloped forest to maintain a foothold in our state. The CMC is a 10,000 member conservation, education, and recreation organization that advocates for the protection of the Southern Rockies ecosystem. The CMC understands the importance of the last roadless forests to the sustainability of wildlife and the conservation of water quality and quantity. In addition, the CMC embraces these areas for the high quality recreational experiences that they provide. We commend President Clinton for protecting these roadless and wild areas from environmentally destructive activities, and hope that his action today is the first of many designed to protect wildlands in the years to come.