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Another South Fork Flathead Logging Project Faces Lawsuit

By Beacon Staff

Two local conservation groups have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service objecting to a logging project proposed in the South Fork Flathead River corridor, the second time in two months the groups have filed litigation against a South Fork logging proposal.

Friends of the Wild Swan and Swan View Coalition, represented by Helena’s Western Environmental Law Center, filed a lawsuit on April 16 in U.S. District Court in Missoula in opposition to the Forest Service’s Soldier Addition II Project on the west side of the South Fork near the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

In late February, the two groups sued the Forest Service over the Spotted Bear River Project, a logging proposal on the opposite side of the South Fork Flathead River. Both projects are located in the Spotted Bear Ranger District of the Flathead National Forest.

“The cumulative effects to wildlife from the Soldier Addition II and Spotted Bear River Projects are enormous,” Arlene Montgomery, program director of Friends of the Wild Swan, said in a statement. “Industrial logging and more roads do not belong in this remote place that is critical habitat for imperiled fish and wildlife.”

Joe Krueger, forest environmental coordinator for Flathead National Forest, said both logging projects underwent lengthy public processes to address any concerns, including those cited by the plaintiffs. The Soldier Addition II Project was given particular scrutiny, he said, with the Forest Service withdrawing its initial decision in 2010 in response to an appeal.

The agency “went back to the drawing board” and redrafted the document to be submitted for a final decision, Krueger said. Altogether the process took about four years and Krueger believes the final plan was exhaustively vetted. The Forest Service took members of the environmental groups out to the location of the proposed project, Krueger said, and responded to their concerns throughout the appeal process.

“I trust our agency biologists and our professional staff to guide the land management out there,” Krueger said, adding that parts of both projects will move forward barring a court order to stop.

Krueger said environmental groups have also filed a notice of intent to sue in objection to a proposed thinning project of small-diameter trees across Flathead National Forest. The groups appealing that proposal are Friends of the Wild Swan, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council.

The Soldier Addition II Project would harvest 1,128 acres of timber, according to Forest Service documents, “to improve long-term forest diversity and productivity, and to enhance the safety of visitors to recreation areas.”

The project would also thin 823 acres of saplings “to improve tree growth and encourage species diversity and forest resilience.” Additionally, the Forest Service proposes prescribed burning on 1,333 acres “to sustain the role of fire in the natural ecosystem and help restore whitebark pine habitat.”

Forest Service documents say the project would also reduce “hazardous fuels” on about 1 acre around the Stony Hill Electronic Site to “protect the site from damage by future wildland fire.”

Deb Mucklow, the Spotted Bear District ranger, said she is proud of the Spotted Addition II Project for “promoting recreational value” and addressing visitor safety worries stemming from widespread beetle-killed trees. The other side of the river also has beetle infestation, she said.

“We’re looking at a really big visitor safety concern,” she said.

The Soldier Addition II Project is similar in scope to the Spotted Bear River Project, which proposes harvesting 1,193 acres of trees, thinning 660 acres of saplings and burning 1,346 acres, according to Forest Service documents. The Spotted Bear River Project is located between the Bob Marshall and Great Bear Wilderness areas.

In a press release, the two environmental groups say the South Fork is a “congressionally protected wild and scenic river” that is home to “some of the most imperiled animals in the continental United States,” including lynx, wolverines, grizzly bears, gray wolves, fishers and bull trout.

The groups characterize both logging proposals as “aggressive.” They say the Soldier Addition II Project would further endanger wildlife by reopening 14.6 miles of road and constructing another 5.6 miles of temporary roads.

Their lawsuit claims violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, National Forest Management Act and Endangered Species Act.

“Contrary to law and sound wildlife management practices,” Matthew Bishop, an attorney with the Western Environmental Center, said, “the agency has refused to consider the cumulative impacts on wildlife and water quality from the two massive logging projects even though they will be occurring simultaneously and are located next to one another in the same watershed and same grizzly bear management unit.”

Krueger said the Forest Service will push forward, with portions of both projects to be started this year.

“We believe in these projects,” Krueger said. “We think it’s important to keep moving. That’s what the public expects from us.”