Comment Analysis · Docket FS-2025-0001

FS-2025-0001-601604

Opposes rescissionA1 strongSubstance 17/24Owed an answerPosted October 7, 2026 On Regulations.gov

In short: The comment places on the record specific data regarding water intakes and maintenance backlogs, cites judicial and regulatory precedents to challenge the legal and economic justifications for rescission, and requests the agency to reconcile its cost-benefit analysis and address specific legal and procedural deficiencies in the final record.

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

Water Quality Quantity
- “headwaters feed rivers running to the Connecticut, the Merrimack, and the Saco”
- “supplying drinking water to communities across New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts”
- “286 municipal water intakes sit in watersheds containing affected roadless areas”
Economic Impact Fiscal
- “The economic case for rescission does not hold together”
- “recreation losses of at least $6.1 million a year”
- “agency already carries a $6.9 billion maintenance backlog on roads it cannot afford to keep”
- “net present value ranging from -$92 million to +$199 million”
Legal Regulatory Framework
- “The Ninth Circuit reviewed exactly that state-by-state alternative and found it deficient”
- “The Tenth Circuit held... that the 2001 rule within the authority Congress granted”
- “The agency owes the record a direct explanation of any contrary legal position”
- “The rule as written already provides that it 'generally banned road building subject to limited exceptions'”
Environmental Protection Biodiversity
- “home to moose, black bear, brook trout, and Canada lynx”
- “recovered under protection”
- “Losing its purity would be a loss to family memory and to land I hope to share in an untouched form”

What it names

National Forests: White Mountain National Forest
Roadless areas: White Mountain
Law cited: 28 U.S.C. Section 1291 36 C.F.R. Section 294.12

The comment

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

Re: Rescission of the Roadless Area Conservation Rule, Docket FS-2025-0001 The Pemigewasset Wilderness has been part of my family across three generations. I have gone since I was born, and it is meaningful to me, my parents, and my grandparents. Losing its purity would be a loss to family memory and to land I hope to share in an untouched form with my future kids. That is why I oppose the rescission of the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule (Docket FS-2025-0001) and ask the agency to address each of the following points in its final record. The White Mountain National Forest holds 16 inventoried roadless areas totaling 240,669 acres, including the Pemigewasset Wilderness, whose headwaters feed rivers running to the Connecticut, the Merrimack, and the Saco, supplying drinking water to communities across New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Across the Eastern region alone, 286 municipal water intakes sit in watersheds containing affected roadless areas. The New England mountains were clearcut once before, and the damage was so severe that Congress passed the Weeks Act of 1911 specifically to authorize federal purchase and recovery of those lands. These places, home to moose, black bear, brook trout, and Canada lynx, recovered under protection. The economic case for rescission does not hold together. 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." Against those marginal gains, the agency's own Cost Benefit Analysis projects timber revenue to the Forest Service of $5.2 to $11.4 million a year, recreation losses of at least $6.1 million a year, and a net present value ranging from -$92 million to +$199 million, a spread so wide it cannot establish a net benefit. Meanwhile the agency already carries a $6.9 billion maintenance backlog on roads it cannot afford to keep, against a road budget of roughly $73 million a year. I think it makes no sense to increase roads that we need to use taxpayer dollars to maintain. This is a terrible and poorly analyzed plan, and reducing long-term spending means doing it pragmatically, not expanding infrastructure the agency cannot sustain. I ask that the agency reconcile the proposal with these figures and explain how an action whose own analysis cannot demonstrate a net benefit justifies adding to a road system already buckling under deferred maintenance. The proposal argues that state-by-state approaches can replace a national rule. The agency's record itself states that "the USDA discussed its dissatisfaction with the Roadless Rule and highlighted its rejection of the Roadless Rule's 'inflexible "one-size-fits-all" nationwide rulemaking approach.' 70 Fed.Reg. at 25,656." The Ninth Circuit reviewed exactly that state-by-state alternative and found it deficient. I ask that the agency address its own prior finding that local decision-making can incrementally erode nationally significant roadless values, and explain how this proposal avoids the deficiencies identified the last time a national rule was replaced with a state-by-state approach. The proposal also argues that the 2001 rule exceeded the agency's statutory authority. The court that examined that question reached a different conclusion. The Tenth Circuit held: "Exercising jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. Section 1291, we REVERSE the district court's order granting Plaintiffs declaratory relief and issuing a permanent injunction, and REMAND the case for the district court to vacate the permanent injunction." That court found the 2001 rule within the authority Congress granted under the Organic Act and the Multiple-Use Sustained-Yield Act and held that it did not create de facto wilderness. The agency owes the record a direct explanation of any contrary legal position it intends to rely on. Finally, the proposal cites permitting and administrative burden as justifications for rescission. The rule as written already provides that it "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)." Additional exceptions address existing mineral leases and community wildfire protection. The agency has not identified which specific burdens fall outside those existing provisions. It should do so, with quantification, before any further action on this proposal. Public land should be managed for long-term value to the country and its people. The Pemigewasset Wilderness represents exactly that kind of value, accumulated across generations and irreplaceable once a road goes in. I ask the agency to answer each of these points in the record before it proceeds. Sincerely, Calvin Kinghorn San Francisco, CA