According to an updated lawsuit against the federal agency, the U.S. Forest Service must carry out more environmental study for the Gold Butterfly Project in light of new information regarding grizzly bears that have been confirmed to occur often in Montana’s Sapphire Mountains.
The lawsuit claims that the logging and road-building project will have an impact on 55,147 acres of the Bitterroot National Forest and its wildlife, which calls for further investigation of wolverine presence.
According to the lawsuit, five wolverines—four males and one female—were found in the Bitterroot National Forest during the 2023 monitoring operations. At the Sapphire Mountains monitoring site, four wolverines—three males and one female—were found.
According to the lawsuit, the wolverines were reportedly found within the project area, but their existence did not lead to a further environmental study of the project, even though it ought to have. In November 2023, wolverines were placed on the Endangered Species Act list.
Bitterroot National Forest is being sued by environmental groups for the Gold Butterfly Project.
According to the lawsuit, the Gold Butterfly Project permits up to 7,000 truckloads of wood to be transported, non-commercial tree-cutting and burning on an additional 2,084 acres, and commercial logging, including clearcutting, on 5,281 acres in the Sapphires. Taxpayers are expected to spend $4.2 million for it.
The Bitterroot National Forest and U.S. Forest Service were sued in September of this year by two nonprofit conservation groups, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Native Ecosystems Council, who claimed that their approval of the Gold Butterfly Project violated the National Environmental Policy Act and other federal laws.
The conservation groups last week changed their complaint to claim that although the Forest Service admitted to receiving new information about wolverines and grizzly bears in the area, it still neglected to complete a supplemental environmental impact statement, or additional environmental analysis, as required by law.
According to the groups, the Forest Service acknowledges that grizzly bears have been confirmed in the Sapphire Mountains and could exist in the project’s action area in a recent Endangered Species Act consultation in May 2024.
According to the groups, the Forest Service acknowledged during the same meeting that the project’s 17.3 miles of new temporary roads could endanger bears.
However, according to the updated lawsuit, the Forest Service still believes the project won’t affect grizzly bears, and the agency has declined to provide a fresh analysis to address the new results.
According to the complaint, when there are noteworthy new facts or information pertaining to environmental issues that affect the proposed action or its effects, federal agencies are required to create a supplemental NEPA document.
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In August 2023, the Missoulian reported three confirmed and distinct grizzly bears in the Sapphire Mountains, following the completion of the Forest Service’s environmental impact statement for the project.
According to the complaint, the Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service acknowledged in March and April 2024 that the Gold Butterfly Project might have an impact on grizzly bears.
According to the complaint, however, the law mandates that the agency conduct a supplemental assessment in order to fulfill its duty to examine a project closely.
It stated that more environmental analysis is also necessary in light of the new wolverine knowledge.
The Forest Service typically does not comment on ongoing litigation, but a Bitterroot National Forest representative was unavailable for comment on Friday.
According to the conservation groups’ initial complaint, among other issues, the logging and clearcutting project will make it more difficult to hunt elk, overstate the quantity of old growth that would remain, and mislead the public about its effects on pine marten.
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