ELR Citation: 55 ELR 20149
No(s). CV 22-91-M-DLC (D. Mont. Oct 27, 2025) (Christensen, J.)

A district court granted in part and denied in part environmental groups' motion for summary judgment in a challenge to the Forest Service's authorization of a logging project in Kootenai National Forest. The groups argued the EA violated NEPA by failing to take a "hard look" at effects to grizzly bears and violated the National Forest Management Act (NFMA) by failing to demonstrate forest plan compliance, and that FWS' biological opinion (BiOp) violated the ESA. The court found FWS' exclusion of known illegal roads in its calculations violated the ESA and that the Service's failure to adequately consider impacts of the roads in its EA violated NEPA and NFMA, but that the EA considered the impact of precommercial thinning activities in core areas and impact of those activities on grizzly bears, and sufficiently analyzed cumulative impacts. It granted summary judgment for the groups insofar as the Services violated NEPA by not taking a hard look at effects to grizzly bears, violated NFMA and NEPA by not complying with the forest plan, and violated the ESA by failing to account for unauthorized roads in density and core calculations.