ELR Citation: 52 ELR 20063
No(s). CV 21–105–M–DLC–KLD (D. Mont. May 25, 2022) (Christensen, J.)

A district court granted an environmental group's motion to preliminarily enjoin the Forest Service and FWS from moving forward with a logging and road building project in the Kootenai National Forest. The group argued the agencies violated the ESA by failing to conduct a lawful cumulative effects analysis in their consultation for the grizzly bear because they failed to analyze state and private activities, and that the Forest Service violated the ESA by skipping essential steps of requesting a species list from FWS to determine whether Canada lynx might be present in the project area and if so, conducting a biological assessment to determine potential effects of the project on the species. The court found the group was likely to succeed in proving that FWS' decision to not obtain and disclose data concerning reasonably certain state and private activities and the Forest Service's backwards approach concerning the Canada lynx violated the ESA. It enjoined the agencies from implementing the project pending a ruling on the merits.