> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.owlinamerica.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # September 25, 2026 - URL: https://www.owlinamerica.com/september-25-2026/ - Published: 2026-09-25T18:25:17.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-25T18:38:22.000Z - Description: Notes from an American environmentalist ✦ Commenting on the Roadless Rule rollback - Author: Owl - Tags: Letters, Library Hello all\~ I hope you are well. It's been an interesting summer. The critical items on the agenda include the proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Rule and major detrimental changes to how the Endangered Species Act is applied. I'm going to say more about the ESA in my next letter. For now, let's focus on the Roadless Rule. The U.S. Forest Service has extended to October 6 the deadline to comment on the proposed rollback. Even if you have already signed on to a conservation group's form letter, know that agencies tend to count all instances of an identical form letter submission as a single comment, even if a million people submitted it. That practice has been challenged, but it continues. And while it's true that public comment as a whole won't necessarily sway an agency's decision, it is also true that the more weight each individual's comment is given, the better. All that to say, sending in an individual letter before the deadline, even if you've already opposed the rescission by clicking through a form letter, is a worthwhile endeavor. What is the Roadless Rule, what is its purpose, and why should we oppose this effort? Environmental journalist Ben Goldfarb explains the ecological background in his book *Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet*. I can highly recommend reading that for a full background of what roads are doing to our planet, if you have the time. If you have a little less time for reading up, Jason Anthony has written a series of pieces on road ecology that beautifully explain why we and the natural world desperately need unroaded expanses, like the 45 million acres currently protected from roadbuilding by the Roadless Rule: [Part 1](https://jasonanthony.substack.com/p/road-ecology-9a1) [Part 2](https://jasonanthony.substack.com/p/thousands-of-band-aids-for-millions-651) [Part 3](https://jasonanthony.substack.com/p/mending-the-carpet-9e6) As for the purpose of the Roadless Rule, its history, and its legal framework, here is a quick and not-too-legalese explainer from the Harvard Law School environmental program. [Trump Administration Proposes to Rescind Roadless Rule](https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/trump-administration-proposes-to-rescind-roadless-rule/?ref=owlinamerica.com) For specific ideas regarding the proposed Roadless Rule rescission, see Ben Goldfarb's authoritative letter on behalf of the Harvard Environmental Law & Policy Clinic. If you want to object using the nuts and bolts—what the science shows about the benefits of roadless areas—this letter cites a range of published research showing how roadless areas protect wildlife, preserve clean water, and prevent wildfire, among other benefits. [Ben Goldfarb's Roadless Rule comment letter](https://emmettclinic.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Ben%5FGoldfarb-Roadless-Rule-Comment.-9.11.2026.pdf?ref=owlinamerica.com) Finally, a lyrical letter to the Forest Service from the heart of a forest lover. Jason Dove Mark is the author of the new book *The Earth Said Remember Me*, about shifting baseline syndrome and how those of us in the impoverished present can work against ecological amnesia to "repair and revive a livable planet." His letter to the Forest Service on why the Roadless Rule should remain intact is place-based, cites the risk of harm to the nearby forest and watershed, and highlights specific concerns about what new roads would do to his beloved Washington forests. [Jason Dove Mark's Roadless Rule comment letter](https://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/articles/entry/a-forest-lovers-public-comment-in-defense-of-the-roadless-rule/?ref=owlinamerica.com##) I hope one or more of the readings above will inspire you to send your own individual comment to the Forest Service in opposition to rescinding the Roadless Rule. Don't worry if you don't have time to write something exquisite or lengthy. A quick note indicating your opposition, along with a couple of reasons why, is great. [Here is the official site](https://www.regulations.gov/document/FS-2025-0001-223869?ref=owlinamerica.com) to submit comments. There is a blue "Comment" button on the upper left, which takes you to a form where you can type or upload your letter. Or you can mail a hardcopy to the address listed under the "Addresses" section in main body of the page: > Director, Ecosystem Management Coordination > 201 14th Street SW > Mailstop 1108 > Washington, DC 20250-1124 [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/40/41/40418a0b-0019-4017-8943-e01ca311116a/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-24-at-11.23.44---AM-1-1.png)](https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-earth-said-remember-me-how-to-revive-our-memories-and-restore-the-planet-jason-dove-mark/675ea62dacd2a1ba?ref=owlinamerica.com) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/40/41/40418a0b-0019-4017-8943-e01ca311116a/content/images/2026/09/Screenshot-2026-09-24-at-11.34.10---AM-1.png)](https://bookshop.org/p/books/crossings-how-road-ecology-is-shaping-the-future-of-our-planet-ben-goldfarb/5bea35d3460b7759?ean=9781324086314&bkshp-astro=t&ref=owlinamerica.com) --- A quick note on my absence. I started this summer with a flare of my chronic migraine condition, and ended it with a fairly severe mystery virus—not Covid, not flu—that knocked me flat for a few weeks. I'm on the mend, and I hope to resume a more regular posting schedule in the next couple of weeks. In these past few, mostly horizontal weeks, I've been doing lots of reading. Casey Michel's new book *The United States of Oligarchy: How America's Wealthiest Ally with Dictators, Weaken the U.S., and Destroy Democracy* has been an eye-opener. I followed it up with Lisa Graves' *Without Precedent*, about the portion of oligarchic corruption attributable to the Roberts Court and its backers, and then Katherine Stewart's *Money, Lies, and God*, about the religious right/Christian nationalist contribution to the anti-democratic movement. I'm just about to dive into Gil Duran's *The Nerd Reich: Silicon Valley Fascism and the War on Democracy*, for the techbro angle on our descent into fascism. Finally, I've got a copy of Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor's *End Times Fascism and the Fight for the Living World*, which I expect will tie it all back to the mission of this newsletter. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/40/41/40418a0b-0019-4017-8943-e01ca311116a/content/images/2026/09/IMG_4168.jpeg) I'm not sure just how these readings will make their way into the newsletter, but for those without the time or inclination (or involuntary weeks in bed) to read all that, I'd love to share a little of what I've learned. In the meantime, here's a quote from *The United States of Oligarchy* that stuck with me: At a certain point, tracking all Trump's moves began to feel simply like an exercise in futility—a list without an end, coming from an administration without a bottom. All the reforms, all the efforts, all the generations taking their shoulder to the wheel, trying to drive the ship of the American state toward a better, or at least less corrupt, future—all of it was undone. Now back in the White House, Trump stood triumphant. And so, too, did all the networks, regimes, and oligarchs who wanted to pry apart the remaining barricades to using their wealth to gain whatever they needed from a White House now open for business, to all comers. Sunk in despair at the Trump madhouse unwinding our environmental laws, I read this passage. Somehow, naming it straight—as Sarah Kendzior does when she describes the regime as "a transnational crime syndicate masquerading as a government"—makes it easier to bear. And clarifies what we are actually fighting against. --- On another note, this was a cool graphic explainer of the mechanisms behind this year's so-called "Super El Niño." The next several months are going to be wild. [Explainer: How the ‘super El Niño’ will reshape the world’s weatherThe world is currently experiencing what is expected to become the strongest El Niño on record – dubbed a “super El Niño” by many.![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/40/41/40418a0b-0019-4017-8943-e01ca311116a/content/images/icon/favicon-405164bd-18f4-499a-9db1-cf8af51e3c23.png)Carbon BriefRobert McSweeney, Daisy Dunne, Tom Prater, Joe Goodman![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/40/41/40418a0b-0019-4017-8943-e01ca311116a/content/images/thumbnail/el-nino-hero-235761a7-004f-4729-aaed-67552c5dd4ec.jpg)](https://interactive.carbonbrief.org/el-nino-explainer/index.html?ref=owlinamerica.com) --- Talk to you soon, Owl **Owl in America* traces the actions of the current U.S. administration from the perspective of an environmental lawyer. These notes follow how, in a time of rapid political and ecological change, governmental decisions are felt in the living world.* --- *Owl in America* will remain free to all readers. Paid subscriptions help make possible the time it takes to track agency notices, court filings, specialized reporting, and environmental stories that can be easy to miss. If you can support this work with a paid subscription, thank you; if you can’t, thank you for being here. Please share these letters, speak up where you can, and keep paying attention to the living world. 🦉 [Subscribe](#/portal/signup) [Tip Jar](https://www.owlinamerica.com/#/portal/support)