flathead national forest

For a second time, wildlife advocates are asking the courts to require the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to consider how the spread of logging roads on the Flathead National Forest will affect threatened grizzly bears and bull trout.

Anthony Botello is coming from the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest in northeast Oregon where he's served as Deputy Forest Supervisor since April of 2020.

Holland Lake Lodge dates back to 1925, when the Forest Service issued a permit for a summer resort to include “a main building 40 by 60 feet in size, and a number of cabins for individual use,” according to press reports at the time.

Flathead National Forest Supervisor Kurt Steele will leave his post to work at the regional U.S. Forest Service office in Missoula.

With the Flathead National Forest considering a special-use permit for a controversial project at Holland Lake, Missoula County is asking the federal agency to include a provision requiring the developer to comply with local building and land-use policies.

Two years’ worth of emails indicate the Flathead National Forest has collaborated since late 2020 with the buyers of Holland Lake Lodge in a manner that breeds mistrust for some members of the public.