The Public Record · Docket FS-2025-0001

Read the comments.

Every public comment on the proposed rescission of the Roadless Rule, sorted by what it talks about. Pick a topic, then narrow by position, by how hard the comment is for the agency to set aside, or by how substantive it is. Each comment is shown in full, as filed. How comments are classified and scored is explained in the Comment Analysis.

1 unique comments11 submissions
Position
  • Opposes rescission 100.0%
Answerability
  • A1 strong 0
  • A2 moderate 0
  • A3 weak 0
  • A0 none 1
Substance /24
Median 4middle half 4–4 · 1 scored
Topics raised
Count
Position
Answerability
Substance /24
Order
11 submissions in this letter's group · showing 1–11Clear all filters
  1. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 4/24Sep 21, 2026FS-2025-0001-454910
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    As an American citizen I strongly oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion. DO NOT REPEAL THE ROADLESS RULE.
    Full analysis of this comment →
  2. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 5/24Sep 16, 2026FS-2025-0001-418450
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    I oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion. Do not rescind the Roadless Rule. Instead, it should be strengthened and expanded.
    Full analysis of this comment →
  3. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 4/24Sep 16, 2026FS-2025-0001-419871
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    I oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion. Thank you for working for the American people and not the oligarchs!!! Mary True
    Full analysis of this comment →
  4. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 4/24Sep 16, 2026FS-2025-0001-424623
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    I STRONGLY oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion. To expand this is lunacy - NO to repealing the Roadless Rule!
    Full analysis of this comment →
  5. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 5/24Sep 16, 2026FS-2025-0001-432219
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    I am writing in opposition to rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion. Thank you for your time and for your consideration.
    Full analysis of this comment →
  6. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 4/24Sep 15, 2026FS-2025-0001-410480
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.This comment stands for all 11 submissions in its group.

    I oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. I am a backpacker that hikes and love these traile The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion.
    Full analysis of this comment →
  7. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 4/24Sep 15, 2026FS-2025-0001-411361
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    I oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion. This is unacceptable and unconscionable. We are the caretakers of our great planet.
    Full analysis of this comment →
  8. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 5/24Sep 15, 2026FS-2025-0001-411552
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    Please consider the following points regarding the Roadless Rule: I oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion.
    Full analysis of this comment →
  9. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 5/24Sep 15, 2026FS-2025-0001-411825
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    To whom it may concern, I oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion. Thank you for your time.
    Full analysis of this comment →
  10. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 5/24Sep 15, 2026FS-2025-0001-413764
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    As an American citizen, I strongly oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. It is widely known that roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers; dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion.
    Full analysis of this comment →
  11. Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 4/24Sep 15, 2026FS-2025-0001-415883
    PLACESTANDDOCGAPEVIDASKALTLAW

    Campaign — One letter sent by 10 or more people, copied or lightly reworded. See the letter, its submissions and topics.One of 11 submissions in its group.

    I oppose rescinding the Roadless Area Conservation Rule. It has helped protect roadless areas, and adjacent Wilderness areas, on national forests for 25 years. If anything is done with the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, it should be strengthened to eliminate logging and roadbuilding loopholes and provide better protection to roadless areas and adjacent Wilderness areas. Roads fragment wildlife habitat. Existing roadless areas provide habitat for many threatened and endangered native species. Roadless areas also provide important migration corridors. Roads threaten high-quality streams and rivers. Dirt and sediment that runs off roads impairs habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife, and roads in steep, rugged country increase the risk of landslides that suffocate streams and rivers with mounds of mud. More roads will result in more human-caused fires in the backcountry. Research shows that more than 60 percent of human-caused fires on national forests in the Lower 48 states are ignited within 1/8-mile of the nearest road, and 95 percent are ignited within 1/2-mile. Roadless areas provide for recreation, like camping, hiking and backpacking, hunting and angling, wildlife viewing and photography, and other activities. Large sections of the Continental Divide, Pacific Crest, and Appalachian National Scenic trails cross protected roadless areas. The Forest Service already has a huge road system—stretching 380,000 miles, which is longer than the country’s highways—with an estimated maintenance backlog of over $8.6 billion. PLEASE KEEP WHAT WILDLANDS WE HAVE LEFT ... WILD!!!
    Full analysis of this comment →

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Please cite us. This analysis is the intellectual property of Roadless.org and Nicholas Holshouser. You are welcome to reproduce it — every reproduction must include this citation:
Roadless.org and Nicholas Holshouser, “2001 Roadless Rule Revision — Substantive Analysis,” https://roadless.org.

How it works. A large language model (an open-weight Qwen3.8 model) reads each substantive comment and copies, word for word, the passages that carry its analytical gap, evidence, request, alternative and connection to the place; it returns no scores. Code grades those passages 0–3 on eight dimensions — evidence, legal grounding, engagement with the environmental analysis, analytical gaps, alternatives, specific requests, position, and local knowledge — with legal grounding taken from a citation scan, not the model. For the strongest tenth on each side, the copied passages are checked against the comment and shown as exhibits. A comment counts as “substantive” when it clears a floor filter — it must show at least one substantive signal (a named entity, a specific citation, a stated analytical deficiency, or first-person testimony), which screens out one-line and purely conclusory submissions before any model scoring.

The full method. Every step, why it is done that way, its known limits and a glossary: Methodologies →

The data. The full canonical dataset — every comment on Docket FS-2025-0001 — is available from Regulations.gov's bulk download, the canonical source: https://www.regulations.gov/bulkdownload. Download the CSV directly (Regulations.gov keeps this link working until October 18, 2026): https://bulk-downloads.regulations.gov/mv4-z8fw-q5jx.csv.

Roadless.org — analysis of the public comment docket.
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