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According to the Forest Service, 64 million acres of open space, recreation lands, and forests will be developed by 2020, with higher rates of development around national forests and other public lands. This amounts to the size of Colorado, with 6,000 acres coming under development per day (about 250 football field's worth of open space every hour).

To address this, the US Forest Service recently issued a draft Open Space Conservation Strategy. While the plan acknowledges the need to protect rapidly decreasing open spaces, it does not address the need for greater investment in federal land conservation programs such as the Land and Wildlife Conservation Fund and Forest Legacy.

The Forest Service needs to hear that should emphasize proactive plans for increasing conservation funding - not simply talk about how funding would be helpful. Please take a minute to write the Forest Service and emphasize the need to protect existing open space in America's forests using conservation funding, improved management, protection of roadless areas, and increases in designated wilderness acres.