In short: The comment establishes that the programmatic analysis is insufficient because it fails to evaluate specific '7.3 - Other ecosystem modifications' impacts to the Suckley's Cuckoo Bumble Bee in the Cube Iron-Silcox IRA, citing scientific evidence that roads alter habitat function and threaten sensitive species.
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
A3 weak: Substantive, but easier to set aside.
Owed an answer on Analytical gap, Evidence.
Standard dismissals it defeats
- Misreads the proposal The agency says the comment misunderstands what is proposed. Defeated when the comment engages the proposal or a named place directly.
- Outside the scope The agency says the comment asks about a different action. Defeated when the comment is specific and tied to this proposal.
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.
- 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.
- 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
- Wildlife Habitat
- “critical habitats for big game, small game and many hundreds non-game terrestrial species”
- “quality aquatic habitat that remains for sensitive aquatic species such as bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout and rocky tailed frogs”
- “Suckley's Cuckoo Bumble Bee (Bombus suckleyi, G2)”
- “distance to unpaved road was the model that most influenced daily nest survival”
- Environmental Protection Biodiversity
- “qualitative difference between roaded and roadless terrain is not a matter of preference but of habitat function”
- “ecosystem services these roadless landscapes provide”
- “Roads change forests in ways that can't be reversed on a human timescale”
- “7.3 - Other ecosystem modifications requires infrastructure access to operate at scale”
- Recreation Tourism Public Use
- “decades of pursuing game and wild fish on national forest lands”
- “hiking, hunting and fishing the Cube Iron-Silcox Roadless areas”
- “lose the solitude, immense beauty”
- “memories of these roadless wild landscapes”
- Water Quality Quantity
- “quality aquatic habitat”
- “sensitive aquatic species”
- “fisheries technician and fisheries biologist”
- “conserve the species that have lived in them”
The comment
Shaded passages are the ones the analysis quoted as evidence for a dimension: Specific placeLocal knowledgeEvidenceRequest