logging

Mike Garrity writes, "Like the Alliance, it's the small environmental and conservation groups such as Native Ecosystems Council, Conservation Congress, and Friends of the Clearwater that are actually stopping the vast majority of deforestation projects on public lands."

Four organizations are preparing to challenge a logging project near Seeley Lake, saying the Forest Service is once again trying to claim that slivers of land can provide secure habitat for grizzly bears.

A federal judge has ruled that, prior to approving more logging projects, the Bitterroot National Forest must analyze whether building more roads would affect grizzly bears and bull trout.

The notice, issued by the USFS Northern Regional office in Missoula, said that the “emergency salvage” effort is a response to the straight-line and high wind events in December 2025 and April 2026.

Mike Garrity writes, "The next time you are in or see an unlogged national forest, take a deep breath and enjoy the clean air, the sparkling streams filled with native fish, the natural forest filled with abundant wildlife -- and be thankful the Forest Service has not logged or burnt it down."

Five conservation organizations sent a 60-day notice of their intent to sue the U.S. Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service if the Bitterroot National Forest doesn’t stop and reconsider how the 20-year Bitterroot Front project would affect threatened species.

The Flathead National Forest approved a logging project using a new Trump administration emergency action, but wildlife advocates claim it’s the third time in a few years that the Flathead Forest has violated the Endangered Species Act.

Mike Garrity writes, "Plaintiffs sued to stop this project in March, alleging, in part, that the project ignored legally mandated protections for whitebark pine, grizzly bears, and lynx under both the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act."

After seven years of consideration, the Bitterroot National Forest has approved a logging and burning project along the western slope of the Bitterroot Valley.

A key account is expected to have a deficit by June. Lands Commissioner Dave Upthegrove argues his decision to set aside some older forests is not to blame.