Judge halts Beaverhead Deerlodge timber project

August 03, 2016 by Laura Lundquist

A federal judge halted a timber project Friday because the Forest Service might have overstepped its bounds in bypassing the public process.

On Friday, Missoula federal District Judge Donald Molloy put a hold on the Moosehorn Ditch Salvage Timber Sale in time to halt logging scheduled to begin on Aug. 1. In so doing, he gave attorneys for the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystem Council time to press their lawsuit that the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest approved a timber sale without going through a public process as required by law.

Judge: Forest must weigh grazing allotments vs. bighorn sheep

June 22, 2016 by Laura Lundquist

The Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest must level the playing field for bighorn sheep when evaluating grazing allotments in the Gravelly Mountains, according to a federal court judge.

Last week, Butte federal District Judge Brian Morris concluded that the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest didn't follow laws related to public process and preservation of wildlife habitat when it allowed sheep grazing to continue near bighorn sheep in the Gravelly Mountains of southwestern Montana.

Lawsuit would increase protection for Cabinet-Yaak grizzly bears

February 10, 2016 by Laura Lundquist

In refusing to increase protection and designate critical habitat in the Cabinet-Yaak region, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has probably hampered grizzly-bear recovery, according to a new lawsuit.

On Monday, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the third time in almost two years for not giving more protection to grizzly bears in the Cabinet-Yaak region of northwest Montana.

Lawsuit challenges sheep grazing in Gravelly Mountains

June 15, 2015 by Laura Lundquist

In a second attempt to eliminate public-land grazing in the Gravelly Range, a Bozeman-based wildlife group is suing the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.

On Thursday, the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center filed a lawsuit alleging that the U.S. Forest Service is violating the Endangered Species Act and National Forest Management Act by allowing 8,000 domestic sheep to graze in the Gravelly Mountains. The lawsuit was filed in the Missoula federal district court on behalf of the Gallatin Wildlife Association.

The plaintiffs claim that allowing domestic sheep to graze on the national forest, especially in a wild area near Yellowstone National Park like the Gravelly Range, endangers grizzly bears and wild sheep.