More about public comment totals:

US Forest Service Roadless Rule Public comments
The Real Numbers:

Executive Summary:
The following is a summary of public comment received by the Forest Service regarding the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for roadless conservation. The comment period was July 10, 2001, to September 11, 2001. The Forest Service received approximately 726,440 responses—including letters, emails, and faxes—approximately 52,432 of which are original responses. The balance of the responses are form letters, which the Content Analysis Team defines as five or more letters consisting of identical text submitted by different people. One example of each form type is coded and entered into the data base to ensure that the concerns are considered. The balance of the forms are sorted by form type, tallied by state, and the total number of each recorded in the database. The analysis provided in this document is based on the approximately 52,432 original responses and the one example of each form letter. These responses have been analyzed using a process called content analysis. Although this analysis attempts to capture the full range of public issues and concerns, it should be used with caution. The respondents are self-selected; therefore their comments do not necessarily represent the sentiments of the entire population. The analysis attempts to provide fair representation of the wide range of views submitted, but makes no attempt to treat input as if it were a vote. The goal of the content analysis process is to ensure that every comment is considered.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 23, 2003 No. 03-259

Gov. Murkowski Welcomes Tongass Roadless Settlement
USFS Settles State's Suit Against Roadless Rule on Southeast Forest

(Juneau) - Governor Frank H. Murkowski today applauded the US Forest
Service for issuing final regulations that exempt the Tongass National
Forest from the Clinton-era Roadless Rule. This rule-making flowed from
the federal government's settlement of the State of Alaska's litigation,
which asserted that the Roadless Rule violated the "no more" clause of
the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act of 1980.

"When Congress passed ANILCA, it included the 'no more' clause to
implement Congress's finding that ANILCA land allocations reflected the
right balance between land that was locked up, and the land and
resources that were to remain available for Alaska to build communities,
an economy, and the jobs that support them," Murkowski said.

"We welcome this good news, coming as it has at Christmas time, as a
boost to the people and communities of Southeast," Murkowski said.
"This was a vital step in our plan to rebuild the Southeast timber
industry. The Tongass should again support a vibrant timber industry."

Under various federal laws and withdrawals, 96 percent of the Tongass
National Forest will remain roadless, wilderness area. The decision by
the USFS to exempt the Tongass, following its decision to settle the
state's lawsuit against application of the Roadless Rule to the Tongass,
means that an additional 300,000 acres of the forest will be available
for timber sales to support the Southeast timber industry. Currently,
approximately 650 timber-related jobs exist in Southeast, compared to a
high of nearly 5,000 ten years ago.

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