Two conservation groups have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to stop the Red Mountain Flume Chessman Reservoir timber project that officials say is necessary to protect Helena’s water supply.
The Montana Ecosystems Defense Council and the Native Ecosystems Council filed the suit in Federal District Court in Missoula on Thursday. The groups cited threats to wildlife, other timber harvest in the area and a slim chance of catastrophic wildfire as the reasons for the suit. The groups also said the project needed more environmental analysis.
“The reason the city and Forest Service give for the timber sale is to protect the watershed from wildfire,” said Steve Kelly, director of the Montana Ecosystems Council. “But there is no scientific evidence that indicates forest conditions in the Ten Mile watershed are abnormal. Pine beetles and fire are not an indication of poor health in lodgepole pine forests.”
The Ten Mile watershed offers habitat and clean water for fish and wildlife, the suit said. The area is home to elk, lynx, wolverines and grizzly bears, and logging and road-building will destroy habitat and pollute the watershed by causing erosion and sediment, it said. “Clearcutting and running bulldozers in a city watershed is a flat-out stupid idea if protecting water quality is your goal,” said Sara Johnson, director of the Native Ecosystems Council. “Intact forests provide clean water; logging roads and clearcuts don’t.”
The project calls for forestry work on 490 acres around the 4.8-mile flume and reservoir 10 miles southwest of Helena. The work includes logging more than 300 acres, and building fuel breaks on another 158 acres. The Forest Service would build about half a mile of temporary road, and prescribed burning would complete the project.
From the Helena Independent Record: https://helenair.com/news/suit-seeks-to-stop-timber-project-intended-to-protect-helena/article_31756e02-fd56-11e3-b08c-0019bb2963f4.html