The Smokey Wire : National Forest News and Views
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The topic of lynx and forest management has been covered recently at this blog. Yesterday, a new twist emerged as the lynx news coming out of Montana was related to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks recently announced wolf-trapping season, which will run from December 15 to February 28 across much of the state – including … Read more
We’ve obviously had a number of in-depth discussions and debates about the Lolo National Forests’s Colt Summit timber sale in the Seeley-Swan Valley of western Montana. However, something just arrived in my in-box this morning, which I thought would be good to highlight here for further discussion. It’s a 2009 letter from John R. Squires , … Read more
I think it would be interesting to investigate further exactly what the FS did right with the cumulative effects of other species, and apparently, according to Judge Molloy, did wrong with lynx. It seems odd to me that the FS would do an adequate analysis for the other species, but not for lynx (look at … Read more
According to the Missoulian, a federal judge has ruled that the US Forest Service failed to adequately study how the Colt Summit timber sale might affect endangered lynx habitat. As readers may recall, The Wilderness Society, Montana Wilderness Association and National Wildlife Federation – as well as their ‘timber partners’ at Montana Wood Productions Association … Read more
Below is a press release from the Alliance for the Wild Rockies. Seems like this issue might be related to the discussion we had over here about pre-commercial thinning and lynx. -mk Judge Candy Dale, Chief United States Magistrate Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Idaho today ruled in … Read more
FOREST SERVICE Shasta Trinity NF logging project New (to me) lawsuit Last fall, Safe Alternatives for our Forest Environment, Conservation Congress and Klamath Forest Alliance sued the Shasta Trinity National Forest for its decision to approve the McFarland Project using a categorical exclusion for “wildlife habitat improvement.” According to plaintiffs, the project would include commercial … Read more
An Easter egg for this morning, but I’ll be running a little behind for awhile. FOREST SERVICE I started the last litigation update with this, before discussing a district court opinion in the Rio Grande case: “I believe the Rio Grande revision is one of only two developed under the 2012 Planning Rule that have … Read more
I believe the Rio Grande revision is one of only two developed under the 2012 Planning Rule that have been litigated (the Flathead being the other). Two lawsuits were filed against the Rio Grande in November 2021. One of them (Defenders of Wildlife v. U. S. Forest Service) was decided a year ago by the … Read more
National Monument creation New lawsuit: Arizona State Legislature v. Biden (D. Arizona) On February 12, leaders of both houses of the Arizona legislature, the State Treasurer, Mohave County and two towns sued President Biden and the Department of the Interior over designation of Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National … Read more
I wanted to wrap up the latest before my own “blogging break.” Not a lot where the Forest Service is a party, and mostly related to the Endangered Species Act, but should be relevant and hopefully interesting. FOREST SERVICE Helena-Lewis & Clark NF Middleman Project New lawsuit On September 25, Native Ecosystems Council and Alliance … Read more