Montana lawsuit says Forest Service invented an emergency to greenlight logging in grizzly habitat

New road construction and logging tied to a Montana project are at the center of a lawsuit warning of impacts on grizzly bear and bull trout habitat.

According to the challengers, federal officials improperly relied on an "emergency" designation, limiting public input.

What happened?

The dispute focuses on the West Reservoir Project, which the Daily Montanan says is being challenged by Swan View Coalition and Friends of the Wild Swan with support from Earthjustice. 

Their case targets a U.S. Forest Service plan involving nearly five miles of new roads, logging on 2,001 acres, and prescribed burns across more than 4,600 acres.

In their suit, the plaintiffs say the agency "fabricated an emergency" to avoid Endangered Species Act protections and "exclude public comment." 

They also contend that additional roads would further reduce grizzly bear habitat and that endangered bull trout populations could be harmed.

"The Flathead fabricated an emergency in order to sidestep protections for grizzly bears and bull trout while also cutting the public out of the process," Arlene Montgomery, program director for Friends of the Wild Swan, said in a press release. 

"They were planning this timber sale for 3 years, no emergency here, only unlawful behavior."

Why does it matter?

"The Flathead National Forest spans 2.4 million acres in northwest Montana and has long provided a sanctuary for grizzly bears and bull trout—both listed as threatened under the ESA," the lawsuit stated.

Roads can fragment habitat and add pressure on species already struggling to coexist with growing human activity. The lawsuit argued, "Roads cause increased mortality and disturb essential life functions for grizzly bears, and roads—and their associated motorized use—generate sediment that contaminates bull trout habitat."

Abandoned roads can continue to adversely affect threatened and endangered species after logging activities have concluded.

"The Forest Service's bogus emergency declaration thus threatens not only to subject grizzly bears and bull trout in the Flathead Forest to a series of unexamined harms, but also to establish a precedent for widespread Forest Service evasion of fundamental ESA … requirements across large portions of the National Forest System," according to the lawsuit.

"The West Reservoir project comes amidst a series of Trump administration attempts to undermine the Endangered Species Act," said Earthjustice attorney Ben Levitan. 

"We're committed to giving imperiled species the protections they're guaranteed under the law, including for grizzly bears and bull trout in Flathead National Forest."

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