Dear Forest Service Leadership:
Regarding the Minister Valley in the Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania: Minister Valley is one of my favorite hikes in the world and means a lot as a place I backpacked with my mom. That forest is like a holy place. Walking in it you can feel how long it took to form. A forest is more than just trees, it's our history and our heritage.
Roadless areas function as corridors that let wide-ranging wildlife and aquatic species move between habitat patches as landscapes change.
Rescinding the Roadless Rule would open the Minister Valley, Allegheny 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 Roadless Rule is one of America's most popular conservation measures, and that support has not faded. Prior to its 2001 enactment, more than 600 public hearings were held nationwide and 1.6 million Americans weighed in to call for protection of these forestlands—more comments than any other federal rule had received at the time. When USDA announced its rescission proposal, the compressed 21-day public comment period in late 2025 drew approximately 600,000 additional comments. A detailed roadless.org analysis of the comment record found that more than 99.8% of submitters opposed the rescission. A February 2026 Pew Charitable Trusts national poll found that 76% of likely voters support the Roadless Rule compared to just 13% opposed, with bipartisan backing from 71% of Republicans, 80% of Democrats, and 80% of independents. More than 100 members of Congress have co-sponsored the Roadless Area Conservation Act of 2025 (S.2042 / H.R.3930) to codify the Rule so it could not be rolled back without an act of Congress.
Rescission of the 2001 Rule is not in the public interest; the Department should decline to proceed.
In earnest,
Marisha Sullivan
CommentID: RLC-20261005-2TVK56