Bitterroot National Forest

Mike Garrity writes, "The Forest Service estimates that the Gold Butterfly project will result in a net loss of $4.2 million to federal taxpayers."

A logging and clearcutting project in the Bitterroot National Forest will impact the environment and cost taxpayers $4.2 million, according to a lawsuit filed Monday.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Missoula, challenges the Mud Creek Vegetation Management Project, which involves logging, thinning, and burning 48,486 acres within the Bitterroot National Forest.

One of the oldest forest research sites in the western U.S. is slated for another round of logging and burning to see how ponderosa stands respond to different treatments.