How do I submit a public comment on Sawtooth Lodge Master Development Plan?

The public comment window for this decision closed on October 13, 2026. The record of what was at stake stays on this page.

When is the public comment deadline for Sawtooth Lodge Master Development Plan?

The comment window closed on October 13, 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.

Sawtooth Lodge expansion inside the Sawtooth National Recreation Area

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.

Affects public lands

PLAN’s own label for this notice, read from the official notice ↗.

The Forest Service may authorize new facilities at a private lodge inside a protected recreation area.

What’s at risk

Public land within the Sawtooth National Recreation Area would be used to support expanded private lodge infrastructure. The proposal authorizes new development under a special use permit on federally owned land.

If this goes through

New and expanded lodge facilities would be authorized on public land inside the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, setting a development footprint that shapes the site for years to come.

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

By the numbers, from the agency’s own document

Forest Service roads named as project access routes: Roads #524 and #824 off State Highway 21
Location Summary
“Sawtooth Lodge, located off State Highway 21 in Grandjean, Idaho via Forest Service Roads #524 and #824.”
Open the document ↗

Source: the agency’s document ↗

The agency’s own analysis

What the notice says, and what it leaves out

The window has closed; the record of what was missing stays.

Project Overview ↗
The agency says
“The Sawtooth National Forest and SNRA propose the analysis of the accepted MDP for the Sawtooth Lodge to include both new and existing facilities.”
The agency selects Categorical Exclusion as the analysis type in the Project Overview while explicitly stating the project covers both new and existing facilities.
Project Overview ↗
The agency says
“propose the analysis of the accepted MDP for the Sawtooth Lodge to include both new and existing facilities”
The Project Overview calls the Master Development Plan 'the accepted MDP' while the current status is simultaneously listed as 'Developing Proposal' and no NEPA milestone dates have been published anywhere in the notice.
Location Summary ↗
The agency says
“Sawtooth Lodge, located off State Highway 21 in Grandjean, Idaho via Forest Service Roads #524 and #824.”
The Location Summary names Forest Service Roads #524 and #824 and State Highway 21 as the access routes, but the notice provides no information about current road condition, load limits, traffic volumes, or how additional development from proposed new facilities would affect traffic, dust, drainage, or recreational access on these same roads.

In the agency’s own words

The Sawtooth National Forest and SNRA propose the analysis of the accepted MDP for the Sawtooth Lodge to include both new and existing facilities.

Forest Service project page ↗

The groups on this fight

4 groups predicted likely to care in Idaho

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

Advocates for the West
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Stibnite Mine / Boise National Forest, Idaho: Lead counsel for the six-group coalition suing over the Stibnite Gold Project, filing the February 2025 complaint, a May 2026 preliminary injunction motion, and a June 2026 emergency appeal to halt construction.
Center for Biological Diversity
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Stibnite Mine / Boise National Forest, Idaho: Plaintiff and co-counsel in the February 2025 lawsuit arguing federal wildlife agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect salmon, steelhead, bull trout, and wolverine from the mine.
Idaho Conservation League
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho: Mobilized Idahoans to file Interior Department comments defending Craters of the Moon during the 2017 national monument review, arguing shrinkage would damage the economies of Blaine, Butte, Minidoka, and Power counties.
Western Watersheds Project
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Bruneau-Jarbidge Rivers, Idaho: Challenging BLM's grazing management across 1.4 million acres of the Jarbidge and Bruneau river canyonlands, where it won an injunction blocking ranchers from grazing beyond their permit limits.

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: Cutthroat trout, caught and released on a western river. It’s the country this decision sits in, not the site itself. More Than Just Parks.

In court on this ground

No court case we track is over Sawtooth National Forest and Sawtooth National Recreation Area.

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.

On the record for this fight

4 people told us they filed on this fight through PLAN; we haven’t found any of their letters on the agency’s record yet.

John34 seals
Judith A.77 seals
Amy M.59 seals
Alec W.13 seals

Ranked on letters found on the agency’s record, then letters filed. Readers appear as first name and last initial, or as a steward in their state; switch yours off in your record. All boards

Filed underRecreation Infrastructure Environmental review Special Use Management

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Sawtooth Lodge expansion inside the Sawtooth National Recreation Area

What the proposal said, and what the decision did

What the notice says, and what it leaves out

In the agency’s own words

4 groups predicted likely to care in Idaho

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