South Fork timber sales still await court ruling

A recent Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling upholds a lower court’s decision to not issue an injunction to stop two timber sales on the Flathead National Forest near Spotted Bear. But some sales are still on hold, pending a full decision by the lower court.

In 2012, Friends of the Wild Swan and the Swan View Coalition sued the Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service over the Soldier Addition II and Spotted Bear River logging projects. The groups sought an injunction to stop both projects, but a U.S. magistrate recommended a ruling against the environmental groups.

The groups appealed the magistrate’s decision to the Ninth Circuit, which also ruled against them with an exception. The Ninth Circuit ruled in favor of one count of the plaintiffs’ argument, which dealt with runoff potential into the South Fork of the Flathead River, saying it could prevail in the lower court.

The final decision in the case, however, is up to U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen, who has yet to make a final ruling in the case.

In the meantime, at least one timber sale has gone forward, The Tin Mule sale calls for harvesting about 5 million board feet of timber near the Hungry Horse Reservoir. Other sales related to the two projects remain on hold.

The 3,200-acre Spotted Bear River project on the west side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir calls for logging on about 1,193 acres and thinning on 600 acres in several different units. The Soldier Addition II project calls for logging and thinning on about 2,500 acres.

In their lawsuits, Friends of the Wild Swan and the Swan View Coalition maintain that the Forest Service erred in approving the projects. They claim neither plan can adequately protect grizzly bears and other endangered species. They also claim that together, the projects will create a cumulative impact on bears and other species.

Their lawsuit also claim the “seed tree” treatment recommended after logging and thinning is done leaves just a few trees to re-seed a logged-over area and amounts to a clear cut.

Soldier Addition II was initially approved by the Forest Service in 2011. The Spotted Bear project was initially designed in 2010. The Forest Service maintains that the projects will improve forest health by thinning trees and will help ponderosa pine stands which once dominated the landscape but are now crowded by Douglas fir and other species.