Conservation groups sue to stop 'Cyclone Bill' logging project in Montana

(CN) — Four environmental groups claim in a suit filed against the Trump administration that a proposed Montana logging project violates environmental law and threatens protected species like the Canada lynx and the grizzly bear.

In March, the federal government granted permission for the project, dubbed “Cyclone Bill,” to cut down or burn more than 12,000 acres of trees.

The environmental nonprofits say this would include more than 9,000 acres of commercial logging and clearcutting of critical habitat for the species. The project would also build nearly 12 miles of permanent roads through Flathead National Forest.

“Plaintiffs have raised substantial questions whether the project may have a significant effect on the environment, and an [Environmental Impact Statement] is required under [National Environmental Policy Act],” the groups say in their suit.

They accuse the U.S. Forest Service and William Mulholland, a district ranger of the Flathead National Forest where the project is planned for. The Flathead National Forest, around 13 miles west of Whitefish, Montana, includes several wilderness areas, including one that has some of the densest population of grizzly bears in the U.S.

“The best available science establishes that roads likely pose the most imminent threat to grizzly bear habitat today, and the management of roads is one of the most powerful tools available to balance the needs of people with the needs of grizzly bears,” the plaintiffs say in their suit.

Most grizzly bears are killed within a third of a mile of logging roads — many in car crashes. More roads means fewer grizzly bears, the plaintiffs claim in their suit filed Monday in federal court in Montana.

A key issue for the groups is that the federal government’s environmental analysis failed to look at the cumulative affects of the project alongside another logging project developed in tandem, or take into account nearby residential development.

The approval for the “Cyclone Bill” project came quick on the heels of another, neighboring logging project, dubbed “Round Star,” which is currently underway.

“Instead of analyzing the two adjoining projects together, the Forest Service opted to issue Findings of No Significant Impacts in both projects without considering the impacts from both projects, located side-by-side, issued less than a year apart,” the plaintiffs say.

The same four nonprofits — Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Native Ecosystems Council, Council on Wildlife and Fish and Yellowstone to Uintas Connection — have also sued to stop “Round Star.”

Last week, a federal judge denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction to stop the “Round Star” logging project from continuing.

The environmental groups are also concerned about Montana’s old growth forests.

They say the logging projects would clearcut “large swaths of forests immediately adjacent to old growth stands,” in violation of the Forest Service’s requirement to protect old growth forests, which serve as habitat for a large and diverse number of birds.

The project, the plaintiffs say in their complaint, “does not consider, explain, or otherwise analyze which, if any, old growth dependent wildlife species could survive in such heavily lorded conditions created by the Cyclone Bill project.”

The Forest Service did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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