Comment Analysis · Docket FS-2025-0001

FS-2025-0001-601106

Opposes rescissionA2 moderateSubstance 15/24Owed an answerPosted October 7, 2026 On Regulations.gov

In short: The comment documents specific deficiencies in the rescission process, including inadequate comment periods and insufficient tribal consultation, while citing personal observation of road conditions in Mendocino National Forest and fuel management success in Caples Creek to argue that the DEIS fails to adequately address water quality impacts and that the rule rescission would increase fire risk and erosion.

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

A2 moderate: Hard to dismiss — it shows cause and effect.

Owed an answer on Analytical gap, Evidence, Alternative.

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.
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.

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.
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

Governance Policy Process
- “inadequate process surrounding the proposed rescission”
- “top-down, anti-democratic, anti-local forcing through”
- “comment period should be extended another 45 days”
- “communities surrounding the forests should have every opportunity to state their opinions”
Tribal Sovereignty
- “inadequate process... Tribal consultation is warranted”
- “held fewer than half of the requested consultations”
- “government-to-government consultation should be correctly held”
- “Tribally-proposed alternative should be analyzed in a supplemental DEIS”
Forest Management Wildfire
- “dangerous flouting of established wildfire and water science”
- “backlog of deferred maintenance on current Forest Service roads”
- “rescinding the rule... can be expected to increase ignitions without improving fuels management”
- “firefighters themselves state that in rugged areas air support is preferable”
Water Quality Quantity
- “Adding more roads also decreases water quality”
- “Roads increase erosion and sediment”
- “Turbidity is a major, costly problem for downstream water users”
- “preserves our forests and clean water for the generations to come”

What it names

National Forests: Mendocino National Forest
Roadless areas: Caples Creek

The comment

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

I oppose the rescission of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule and request that it be abandoned forthwith as a waste of taxpayer dollars, a dangerous flouting of established wildfire and water science, and a top-down, anti-democratic, anti-local forcing through of something that was overwhelmingly opposed at the NOI stage. I also protest the inadequate process surrounding the proposed rescission; if the rescission is not abandoned, the process must be corrected. Regarding process, the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule received extraordinary public input, largely positive, through 2 60-day comment periods and over 600 public meetings drawing over 23,000 participants. This rescission proposal initially allowed only a 21-day comment period on the NOI and a 30-day comment period on the DEIS, inadequate to a broad rule that affects nearly 45 million acres all across the nation. Even with the DEIS comment extension, the total comment period is little half that of the original rule. If the rescission is not abandoned, the comment period should be extended another 45 days and it should include at least one meeting per forest—half of what was provided for the original rule. Communities surrounding the forests should have every opportunity to state their opinions and share the likely impact on their livelihoods and lifestyles. Also, although the USDA correctly determined that Tribal consultation is warranted by the proposal, it has held fewer than half of the requested consultations, per the TSIS has held no consultations since the DEIS has been released, and it misconstrued what consultation means. Sending line officers without decision-making power to record opinions before alternatives have been publicized is not the same as decision-makers meeting with Tribes regarding the actual impacts of proposed alternatives. The TSIS nonetheless shows that the majority of Tribes oppose the rescission, and yet this rescission is being forced through. Furthermore, alternatives proposed by Tribes were not analyzed in detail. If this rescission is not abandoned, government-to-government consultation should be correctly held with the requesting Tribes, a Tribally-proposed alternative should be analyzed in a supplemental DEIS, and an updated Tribal Summary Impact Statement should be issued for comment before the final rule. As for the impacts of the rule itself, as a tax-payer I am infuriated that the enormous backlog of deferred maintenance on current Forest Service roads is being passed over in favor of building new roads in areas that, if they were easy to build roads in, would already have them. I have recently traveled Forest Service roads in Mendocino National Forest, where my companions and I had to navigate a landslide and a washout. While fire trucks might have been able to navigate the landslide, after a delay for digging it out, the washout was barely navigable in a passenger vehicle. In the best case trying to get engines through there would have delayed fire response by forcing the engines to be rerouted; in the worst case it could have caused injuries or even deaths to our firefighters. Rather than attempt to build new roads, the backlog should be better funded and roads should be prioritized for repair according to their impact on public safety. Adding insult to potential injury, timber sales from areas newly opened to logging are unlikely to pay for themselves or the roads; essentially, they are a corporate giveaway. The rescission will not, as claimed, make it easier to manage fire in forests. I have seen fuels management in Caples Creek, one of my favorite inventoried roadless area, that successfully protected the area from the massive, severe Caldor Fire 2 years later, and the DEIS acknowledges that the 2001 Roadless Rule does not "meaningfully constrain hazardous fuel treatment activities". It also acknowledges that IRAs have far fewer ignitions than roaded lands. In other words, rescinding the rule—according to the DEIS—can be expected to increase ignitions without improving fuels management. Firefighters themselves state that in rugged areas air support is preferable to trying to get engines in, and point to delays caused by poorly maintained roads. More roads will not make this better. Adding more roads also decreases water quality at a time when fresh, clean water is of utmost importance and in short supply. Roads increase erosion and sediment, while maintaining forests captures sediment. Turbidity is a major, costly problem for downstream water users, who have to bear the indirect costs of the new roads. The DEIS barely addresses this impact other than to say that it likely exists. There are far more reasons to oppose rescinding a rule that preserves our forests and clean water for the generations to come. The rescission should be abandoned and our taxpayer dollars used for something useful like restoring the many fire fighter support personnel who have left the Forest Service.