Montana groups sue USFS over logging in lynx habitat
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The U.S. Forest Service is facing a lawsuit from Montana conservation groups for authorizing a major logging project in a critical wildlife habitat. The Round Star logging project, located 13 miles west of Whitefish, would cover over 9,000 acres of forest land in an area inhabited by Canada lynx and grizzly bears. Both are federally protected under the Endangered Species Act, which means they should take priority in logging plans.
Steve Kelly, president of the Council of Wildlife and Fish, is one of the plaintiffs.
"It's already been logged heavily, so we're really talking about some of the last places that lynx can even survive locally, never mind connectivity from one place to another," he said.
According to Alliance for the Wild Rockies, the Round Star project doesn't properly take into account the cumulative effects of nearby projects, which total about 42,000 acres of logging and burning and 100 miles of new roads.
A federal court judge in 2023 ruled against the Forest Service on a project in the Kootenai National Forest that similarly threatened grizzly bear habitats. Kelly wonders why the agency continues to attempt passing projects without adequate analysis of their effects.
"The court now is quite adept at figuring out who's doing what and why and applying the law. So there's really not much wiggle room anymore for the agencies to slide one by," he continued.
Canada lynx require habitat with dense forests and deep snow that also support populations of snowshoe hare, which make up about 75 percent of the lynx diet.
