Grizzlies, lynx central to court fight over Montana logging project

(CN) — Environmentalists sparred with the federal government in court on Wednesday in a bid to stop a logging project in the Garnet Mountain Range east of Missoula, Montana.

“This project undermines the science by effectively pushing lynx out of the project area rather than conserving the remaining critical habitat within it,” said Alizabeth Bronsdon, attorney for the conservation groups.

The Bureau of Land Management authorized the Clark Fork Face Forest Health and Fuels Reduction Project in April 2024 to thin overgrown forests, reduce wildfire risk and allow opportunities for timber harvest where available over the next 10 to 15 years.

The Bureau of Land Management consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service about the project’s effects on species and habitat in the area, but the conservationists claim both agencies neglected to consider the adverse impacts on lynx, grizzly bear and bull trout.

Roads through the project area are at the center of the dispute.

https://www.courthousenews.com/grizzlies-lynx-central-to-court-fight-over-montana-logging-project/