How do I submit a public comment on Eastern Highlands Vegetation Management?

The public comment window for this decision closed on September 1, 2026. The record of what was at stake stays on this page.

When is the public comment deadline for Eastern Highlands Vegetation Management?

The comment window closed on September 1, 2026.

Do public comments actually change federal decisions?

Yes, when they are substantive. Agencies are legally required to read and respond to substantive comments before finalizing a rule, and specific personal comments about real places and real uses carry far more weight than identical form letters. Courts have overturned rules when agencies ignored substantive comments.

Stop regeneration logging near New Castle in Craig County

What the proposal said, and what the decision did

No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.

No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.

PLAN's read: high threat

A language model's read of the agency's notice, not an agency rating and not an editor's finding. It’s read from the official notice ↗, and it isn’t a grade.

The Forest Service proposes logging, herbicide use, and temporary road construction across 1,059 acres near New Castle, Virginia.

What’s at risk

Up to 1,059 acres of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests face regeneration harvests, herbicide treatments, and new temporary roads. These activities can disturb wildlife habitat, compact soils, and introduce lasting changes to forest structure on the Eastern Divide Ranger District.

If this goes through

Regeneration harvests, herbicide applications, and temporary road construction would proceed across 1,059 acres, with road and soil disturbance effects that may persist long after project completion.

Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.

In the agency’s own words

Forest health improvement project across 1,059 acres near New Castle in Craig County, Virginia. Proposed treatments include regeneration harvests, manual site preparation, herbicide treatments for invasive or undesirable vegetation, and construction and use of temporary roads.

Forest Service project page ↗

The groups on this fight

4 groups predicted likely to care in Virginia and West Virginia

Predicted likely to care is a guess from the group's sourced work in Virginia and West Virginia, with no link to this decision. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.

Friends of the Allegheny Front
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works West Virginia: They work only in West Virginia.
Mountain Institute
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Works West Virginia: West Virginia is one of the 2 states they work in.
Shenandoah National Park Association
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia: A nonprofit partner of Shenandoah National Park.
Shenandoah National Park Trust
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Shenandoah National Park, Virginia: A nonprofit partner of Shenandoah National Park.

Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.

Who signs it

The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.

The ground

The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.

The photograph on this page: Wild turkey in hardwood forest. It’s the country this decision sits in, not the site itself. More Than Just Parks.

In court on this ground

2 court cases are over George Washington National Forest and Jefferson National Forest, newest first.

Decided · filed June 15, 2020
United States Forest Service v. Cowpasture River Preservation Assn.
Decided. We don’t hold the court’s words on it yet.
Decided · no date on file
Sierra Club, Inc. v. U.S. Forest Service
Decided. We don’t hold the court’s words on it yet.

Who holds the vote

PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.

See how your members vote ↗

Forest ServiceWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.

Filed underLogging Vegetation Management Herbicide Infrastructure Wildlife Environmental review Invasive Species

Know an open comment period we are missing, or spotted a wrong deadline? .

Stop regeneration logging near New Castle in Craig County

What the proposal said, and what the decision did

In the agency’s own words

4 groups predicted likely to care in Virginia and West Virginia

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