Comment Analysis · Docket FS-2025-0001

FS-2025-0001-589094

From REI Co-op

Opposes rescissionPosted October 6, 2026 On Regulations.gov

Not scored for substance: the comment does not clear the floor of substantive signal.

The comment

We respectfully submit the attached 16,190 petition signatures in response to the U.S. Forest Service’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and proposal to rescind or weaken the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. These signatures represent REI Co-op members and outdoor enthusiasts from across the country who strongly support maintaining the protections provided by the 2001 Roadless Rule.

Topics

Public Opinion Support
- “16,190 petition signatures”
- “REI Co-op members and outdoor enthusiasts”
- “strongly support maintaining the protections”
Recreation Tourism Public Use
- “outdoor enthusiasts”
- “REI Co-op members”
- “maintaining the protections”

Attachments

1 file from REI Co-op. Counts as 16,185 — Counted from the files: The enclosed submissions were counted from the files themselves.

Enclosed submissions

Sharing & methodology

These results are meant to be shared.

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: https://www.regulations.gov/bulkdownload.

Roadless.org — analysis of the public comment docket.
Media inquiries welcome — nicholas@wanderingnature.com.