Only You Can Prevent Forest Mismanagement: Attorney General Bonta Opposes Proposal Undermining Public Participation in U.S. Forest Service Decision-making

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta led a coalition of nine attorneys general in sending a comment letter to the U.S. Forest Service opposing its proposal to dilute the predecisional administrative review process that applies to a broad swath of Forest Service projects. The proposed rule would amend the process for public participation by slashing some public comment timelines by more than 50%, eliminating neutral reviewing officials, and imposing other new limits on how public comments are articulated, submitted, or considered. In the letter, Attorney General Bonta and the coalition explain that the proposed rule would greatly limit public awareness and participation in Forest Service project-level decisions that can have a profound local and regional impact. 

“Public participation is paramount in government decision-making, but the Trump Administration would rather undermine active community involvement so they can quickly and easily exploit our public lands,” said Attorney General Bonta. “Let’s be clear: This isn’t efficiency, it’s obstruction. Our communities play an important role in preventing hazards and preserving our forests. Public agencies like the Forest Service should empower people to actively exercise their rights and engage in decisions that impact our natural resources, not work to strip away those rights.”  

The current predecisional administrative review process, which has been in place since 2013, allows for public participation in Forest Service project-level decisions, including decisions affecting public access, recreation, and natural resources on the 20 million acres of national forest land in California. On February 5, 2026, the Forest Service announced proposed revisions to its predecisional administrative review process. The proposed rule undermines and potentially forecloses meaningful public participation. It will greatly impair the ability of the public, Tribes, and interested organizations to participate in Forest Service project-level decisions such as timber sales, the construction of interior roads, and hazardous fuels management. 

The agency proposes to make the following procedural changes, among several others: 

• Slash the public comment and objection timeline from 30 days to 10 days for some projects and from 45 days to 20 days for others. 
• Dispense with the role of a neutral reviewing official and instead allow the official responsible for the project to review and respond to any objections. 
• Change where notices of opportunities to comment or object to a proposed action are published. 
• Impose arbitrary page limits on objections to environmental impacts review, where presently there are none.
• Authorize the Forest Service to disregard comments that identify problems if they do not also include a clearly articulated recommendation or mitigation for the responsible official to consider.

In sending the letter, Attorney General Bonta leads the attorneys general of Colorado, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.