Comment Analysis · Docket FS-2025-0001

FS-2025-0001-489688

Opposes rescissionA1 strongSubstance 15/24Owed an answerPosted September 28, 2026 On Regulations.gov

In short: The comment documents that the agency's proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule fails to reconcile its own data showing higher fire density on roaded lands (DEIS Table 21), presents a cost-benefit analysis with a potentially negative net present value and a $6.9 billion maintenance backlog, and fails to apply its cited 13-75% biodiversity fragmentation range to the 40.1 million acres of affected environment, specifically in Cherokee National Forest.

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

A1 strong: Must be answered — it names the law.

Owed an answer on Analytical gap, Evidence, Legal.

Standard dismissals it defeats

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.
Misreads the proposal The agency says the comment misunderstands what is proposed. Defeated when the comment engages the proposal or a named place directly.
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.

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.
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.

Topics

Environmental Protection Biodiversity
- “hellbender is a species native to the Southern Appalachians, and it needs to be preserved”
- “habitat fragmentation reduces biodiversity by 13 to 75 percent”
- “The southern Appalachians are an evolutionary crossroads”
- “Once a species is gone, it cannot come back”
Forest Management Wildfire
- “The agency's own record undermines the wildfire rationale for this rescission”
- “human-caused wildland fire is nearly five times more likely to occur on essentially roaded lands”
- “fire density on roaded land than inside the affected roadless areas”
- “community wildfire protection plans”
Economic Impact Fiscal
- “total timber volume affected by this rule is less than 0.5 percent of total United States production”
- “net present value ranging from negative $92 million to positive $199 million”
- “road system already carries a $6.9 billion maintenance backlog”
- “recreation losses of at least $6.1 million a year”
Water Quality Quantity
- “378 municipal water intakes sit in watersheds containing affected roadless areas”
- “account for what that means for the biodiversity of places like the Cherokee”

What it names

National Forests: Cherokee National Forest
Law cited: 36 C.F.R. Section 294.12

The comment

Shaded passages are the ones the analysis quoted as evidence for a dimension: Specific placeLocal knowledgeEA analysisAnalytical gapEvidenceRequestAlternativeLegal

The sunsets and foggy mountain mornings I photograph in the southern Appalachians belong to all of us. Once we destroy the landscape, we cannot get it back. That is why I oppose the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. I hike in Cherokee National Forest, at Laurel Falls, Buffalo Mountain, and Max Patch Loop, where I take my family. I have been lucky enough to see hellbender salamanders in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. The hellbender is a species native to the Southern Appalachians, and it needs to be preserved. The Cherokee holds 18 inventoried roadless areas totaling 84,881 acres, and the verified species list for that forest includes the hellbender, black bear, brook trout, Indiana bat, and northern long-eared bat. Once a species is gone, it cannot come back. That is not a philosophical point. It is a biological fact, and it should govern this decision. The agency's own record undermines the wildfire rationale for this rescission. The agency found that "Building a road into a forest at high risk from uncharacteristic wildfire effects could increase the incidence of human-caused fires. A human-caused wildland fire is nearly five times more likely to occur on essentially roaded lands than on essentially unroaded lands." The proposal justifies opening roadless areas in part on fuels management grounds, but the agency's own ignition data, reported in DEIS Table 21, shows far higher fire density on roaded land than inside the affected roadless areas. The agency must explain, in specific terms, why its current proposal departs from those prior findings and how it reconciles the rescission with that documented disparity. The economic case is equally weak. The agency's own record states that "the total timber volume affected by this rule is less than 0.5 percent of total United States production, and the total oil and gas production from all National Forest System lands is currently about 0.4 percent of the current national production." The agency's own cost-benefit analysis projects $5.2 to $11.4 million a year in timber revenue against recreation losses of at least $6.1 million a year, with a net present value ranging from negative $92 million to positive $199 million. The road system already carries a $6.9 billion maintenance backlog. A proposal whose own analysis cannot establish a net benefit, and whose resource contribution is less than half a percent of national production, does not justify expanding that backlog into 84,881 acres of Cherokee roadless land. The agency has not reconciled these numbers and should be required to do so before this proceeding closes. The proposal also overstates the regulatory burden the rule creates. The agency acknowledges that the rule "generally banned road building subject to limited exceptions including: the preservation of 'reserved or outstanding rights' or discretionary Forest Service construction necessary for public health and safety. 36 C.F.R. Section 294.12(b)(1),(3)." Those exceptions already accommodate existing mineral leases, community wildfire protection plans, and public health and safety emergencies. The agency has not identified which specific operational needs fall outside those existing exceptions or quantified the burden of working within them. It should be required to do that accounting, on specific projects, before the rule is rescinded. Finally, the agency has quantified the biological consequences of its proposal and then failed to apply them. "The DEIS cites the finding that habitat fragmentation reduces biodiversity by 13 to 75 percent." That range appears in the record and stops there. No projection across the 40.1 million acres of potentially affected environment follows. The southern Appalachians are an evolutionary crossroads. More tree species grow in places like Citico Creek and Big Frog Mountain than in all of northern Europe. Across the Southern region, 378 municipal water intakes sit in watersheds containing affected roadless areas. The agency must apply its own cited fragmentation range to the full 40.1 million acres and account for what that means for the biodiversity of places like the Cherokee before this decision is finalized. Your job is to protect the land and maintain public access. Roads and profit are not the goal. My family goes to these forests because the land is intact. The agency should maintain the rule that keeps it that way. Sincerely, Kristin Wright