Daines and Tester spreading misinformation about logging

Sens. Steve Daines and Jon Tester are spreading misinformation in their bid to pump up logging of federal lands. They are doing industry’s bidding, and they don’t seem to care if their rate of logging public forests violates environmental laws or not.

Tester recently told Montana Public Radio “every logging sale in Montana right now is under litigation. Every one of them.” The Flathead National Forest’s Web site, however, lists 17 approved logging projects, only four of which have been litigated.

Daines wants to force citizens to post a large bond in order to sue the Forest Service, undermining the Equal Access to Justice Act in an effort to make it impossible for David to take on Goliath when environmental laws are being broken.

Nonprofit conservation groups already have plenty invested in attending field tours, studying environmental documents and attempting to reach agreement with the Forest Service prior to filing any necessary lawsuits. Public lands can’t afford to have nonprofits and citizens priced out of their right to due process.

The Flathead Forest has been trying since 1974 to reduce its logging to comply with environmental laws. F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber sued the Flathead Forest to keep the logging inflated.

In 1995, the Flathead Forest cut its logging levels in half and proposed in 2006 to reduce them further to better protect fish, wildlife and water quality. This has helped reduce litigation.

Now Stoltze has duped the Whitefish Range Partnership collaborative into nearly doubling the federal land available for logging by reducing protections for threatened grizzly bear and lynx. Environmental protection is nothing more than lip service when senators and collaborators work to get around the law while trying to marginalize those who would enforce it in court.

Keith Hammer is the chairman of the Swan View Coalition.