Comment Analysis · Docket FS-2025-0001

FS-2025-0001-267334

Opposes rescissionA0 noneSubstance 6/24Posted August 24, 2026 On Regulations.gov

Scored directly — The comment's whole text was scored on its own.

Scorecard

Each dimension is scored 0–3; the eight sum to the substance score out of 24.

  • Specific placeNames a specific location — from a region down to an exact creek, trail, road, or map reference.
  • Local knowledgeDraws on a first-hand connection to the place — visits, sustained activity, occupation, or a professional role.
  • EA analysisEngages the agency's environmental analysis directly.
  • Analytical gapIdentifies something the analysis fails to address.
  • EvidenceBacks claims with specific facts, data, or research.
  • RequestMakes a specific, actionable request of the agency.
  • AlternativeProposes a different course of action.
  • LegalCites statutes, regulations, or legal obligations.

How hard it is to set aside

A0 none: Counted, not answered.

Still open to the agency

  • Alternative already eliminated The agency says it considered and eliminated the alternative the comment proposes, with a reason. Cannot be defeated from the comment text alone.
  • Already addressed The agency says its analysis already covers the point. Defeated when the comment cites the law itself: there is no analysis to cite against a statutory claim.
  • Deferred to a later decision The agency says the point belongs to a later, site-specific decision. Cannot be defeated from the comment text alone.
  • Misreads the proposal The agency says the comment misunderstands what is proposed. Defeated when the comment engages the proposal or a named place directly.
  • Not required The agency says the analysis the comment asks for is not required. Cannot be defeated from the comment text alone.
  • Preference noted The agency notes the comment as a statement of preference and takes no action on it. Cannot be defeated from the comment text alone.
  • No cause and effect shown The agency says the comment asserts a harm without showing how the action causes it. Defeated when the comment shows the mechanism.
  • Outside the scope The agency says the comment asks about a different action. Defeated when the comment is specific and tied to this proposal.
  • Certified not substantive The agency certifies the comment raises nothing substantive. Defeated when the comment alleges illegality, which is substantive by the definition the certification runs on.

Topics

  • Environmental Protection Biodiversity
    • “fragment habitat, introduce disturbance, and eliminate roadless character”
    • “ecologically affected by roads, accounting for edge effects, runoff patterns, and downstream disturbance”
    • “KEEP OUR PARKS ROADLESS”
  • Governance Policy Process
    • “Rescinding a settled rule is the kind of decision that should be made only on a strong record”
    • “the record here doesn't support it”
    • “REJECT THE RESCISSION”
  • Recreation Tourism Public Use
    • “the distinction between roadless and roaded land isn't bureaucratic — it's the whole point of the trip”
    • “For someone who spends real time out there”

What it names

National Forests
Croatan National Forest
Roadless areas
Catfish Lake North
Works cited
10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.29.1.207

The comment

Dear Secretary Brooke L. Rollins: For someone who spends real time out there, the distinction between roadless and roaded land isn't bureaucratic — it's the whole point of the trip. Regarding the Catfish Lake North in the Croatan National Forest, North Carolina: New road construction, reconstruction, and associated development fragment habitat, introduce disturbance, and eliminate roadless character. A large share of the U.S. is already road-affected. An estimated 15 to 20 percent of the contiguous United States is ecologically affected by roads, accounting for edge effects, runoff patterns, and downstream disturbance — not just the area of road surface itself. Roughly 80 percent of Earth's terrestrial surface remains roadless, but most of that area is fragmented into patches smaller than 1 square kilometer (Forman & Alexander 1998; Ibisch et al. 2016). — Richard T. T. Forman | Lauren E. Alexander, 1998 · Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics (https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.29.1.207) Rescinding the Roadless Rule would open the Catfish Lake North, Croatan National Forest to road construction and associated ground disturbance. The direct and indirect effects of that activity are precisely what makes a specific comment about this area necessary. The long term effects of building these roads outweighs the benefits ten-fold. The current roads across the state are in disarray and 95 has been worked on for the last 10 years. Fix 95 before even thinking about destroying our parks to add more roads that won’t be taken care of. REJECT THE RESCISSION! KEEP OUR PARKS ROADLESS! Rescinding a settled rule is the kind of decision that should be made only on a strong record, and the record here doesn't support it. All the best, CommentID: RLC-20260824-JMR4M1

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