Two conservation groups made the first legal challenge to a logging operation excluded from environmental analysis and public review under the 2014 Farm Bill.
On Thursday, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Missoula to stop the Rendezvous Trails timber sale near West Yellowstone. The sale calls for logging 250 acres of lodgepole pine on the western boundary of Yellowstone National Park. The alliance and council allege that the Forest Service acted too quickly in categorically excluding the timber sale from analysis and review, including public comment and appeals under the National Environmental Policy Act.
The 2014 Farm Bill allows timber sales up to 3,000 acres in forests designated as unhealthy because of disease or insect infestation. The groups say the categorical exclusion for the Rendezvous Trails came before the secretary of agriculture formally designated the area. “Our position is they jumped the gun,” said Mike Garrity, executive director for the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.
According to the lawsuit, on March 19 the secretary of agriculture asked western governors to nominate landscapes impacted by insects and disease. Gov. Steve Bullock made his nomination of more than 5.1 million acres in all of Montana’s national forests, which the secretary approved on May 20.
The suit alleges that, on March 13, before approval of Bullock’s designation, Hebgen Lake District Ranger Cavan Fitzsimmons issued a decision memo and finding of no significant impact from the timber sale, and said that no public comment, notices or appeals would be allowed because of the provisions of the Farm Bill.
From the Helena Independent Record: https://helenair.com/news/local/state-and-regional/conservation-groups-file-first-lawsuit-against-logging-designated-under-farm/article_42a56012-f9d5-11e3-a8bd-0019bb2963f4.html?comment_form=true