How PLAN works, and how to check our work.
Where the actions come from, what we cut, and the lines we will not cross. Everything on this page is checkable.
The pipeline
We read the registers, daily
Each morning we pull open public-lands comment windows from the systems we cover today: the Federal Register, regulations.gov, BLM’s National NEPA Register (ePlanning), the Forest Service’s project schedule (SOPA), the Park Service’s planning site (PEPC), and the Army Corps’ public notices, including project windows that never reach the Federal Register at all. Fish and Wildlife and Reclamation are not covered yet, and we tell you what we cover so you can see the edges.
We cut the noise
Highway projects on private land, routine paperwork, permits with no land impact: gone. What stays genuinely affects federal public lands or their wildlife.
We write the stakes plainly
What is at risk, and what happens if it goes through, grounded in the agency’s own notice and linked on every page.
We hand you the ways to act
Comment, call, write the paper, or share. We give you the words and the link, and you file in your own name.
Why a comment carries weight
This is not a petition. Under the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. 553), when an agency opens a comment window it is legally required to consider and respond to substantive comments before it finalizes a decision. When agencies skip that, courts have thrown the decision out. A specific, factual comment, especially one with local knowledge the agency does not have, becomes part of the record a judge reviews. That record is where rules get rewritten and lawsuits get won.
Our sources
Our standards
Every claim is sourced.
Each action links its Federal Register notice and, where one exists, the regulations.gov docket. The agency’s own words sit next to our read.
Your comment is your own.
Form letters get bundled and counted once. We prompt you for the specific local detail the law requires the agency to answer, then you write it.
We never submit for you.
We hand you to the official page with your finished comment. The comment you file and the call you make are yours.
The threat badge is a model’s read.
A language model reads each agency notice and rates it critical, high, moderate, low or protective. That rating is labeled “PLAN’s read” wherever it prints. It is not an agency rating and not an editor’s finding, and it can be wrong.
We don’t invent numbers.
Every count you see is a live, verifiable federal figure. No invented totals, ever.
Counts include the queue.
We show the number of comments regulations.gov reports received, which includes submissions the agency has not yet posted for public reading. Where a received figure is unavailable we fall back to the posted count, which runs lower. If you commented and the number hasn’t moved yet, your comment is in the queue, not lost.
Network submissions are verified before they publish.
Readers can submit fights that never reach the Federal Register. Our editors check every one against its official page, and nothing goes live without that source. Community actions are labeled "From the Network" on every card and page.
Common questions
Do public comments on federal rules actually work?
Yes, when they are substantive. Under the Administrative Procedure Act, an agency must consider and respond to substantive comments before finalizing a decision, and courts have thrown out decisions where agencies failed to. A specific, factual comment becomes part of the legal record a judge reviews.
Does one comment matter more than a form letter?
A single specific, personal comment can carry more weight than thousands of identical ones. Agencies bundle duplicate form letters and count them once. A comment with real local knowledge is the kind the law requires the agency to answer.
Does PLAN submit my comment for me?
No. We hand you to the official government comment page with your finished comment, and you file it yourself. The comment you file and the call you make are always yours.
How often is PLAN updated?
Every morning. We pull new public lands actions from the official Federal Register API shortly after it publishes each weekday, explain the stakes in plain English, and closed comment windows drop off automatically.
Can I submit a fight PLAN is missing?
Yes. Most public-lands decisions never touch the Federal Register: state land boards, county hearings, and agency project pages run their own comment windows. Submit the fight with its official link and our editors verify it against that page before anything publishes. Published community actions are labeled "From the Network" and always link the official source.
Is PLAN free?
Yes. PLAN is free, and you don’t need to sign up to act. It is built by More Than Just Parks as part of our public lands mission.