ELR Citation: 56 ELR 20043
No(s). CV 24-125-M-KLD (D. Mont. Mar 31, 2026) (DeSoto, 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 approval of a logging and burning project in Bitterroot National Forest. The groups argued the approval violated NEPA, the National Forest Management Act (NFMA), the 2012 NFMA planning regulations, and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. The court found the Service's determination that supplemental analysis was not necessary was premised on apparently inaccurate information—that grizzly bears were not present in the project area and therefore would not be affected by the project—and thus the decision not to engage in additional NEPA analysis was arbitrary and capricious. It granted summary judgment for the groups on their NEPA claim regarding grizzly bears, granted summary judgment for the Service on all other claims, enjoined the Service from implementing the project, and remanded to the Service.