Threaten to sue, file lawsuits and then, if needed, appeal. That equation comes right out of the anti-forest management playbook of litigant environmental groups. And it is playing out yet again in western Montana.

A federal judge recently lifted an injunction allowing the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to go ahead with the Gold Butterfly Project, planned logging and fuels mitigation in the Sapphire Mountains designed to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire while also improving wildlife habitat and overall forest health.

“Responsible forest management produces much-needed timber, makes housing more affordable, prevents wildfires and saves lives,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division. “We are combating efforts to weaponize procedural statutes against the responsible use of America’s vast natural resources.”  

Well-known litigant Michael Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies that filed the original injunction, immediately announced his organization would appeal. Garrity claims the project authorizing 5,300 acres of timber harvest and 2,100 acres of other restoration treatments would trigger detrimental issues because it would take place in “a key corridor for grizzly bears,” as per the Missoulian. There is no established grizzly population in the Bitterroot Valley region although USFS noted grizzlies occasionally wander through the area.

USFS first proposed the Gold Butterfly Project in 2017. It stands as an example of a much-needed forest management project strung along due to continual environmental litigation.

According to Evergreen magazine, Alliance for the Wild Rockies filed 86 of the previous 186 environmental lawsuits against the federal government and does not track the detrimental impacts of litigation on overly dense landscapes of ladder fuels and closed canopies that are increasingly susceptible to wildfire, insect invasion and eroding habitat.

For Garrity, it’s just another page from the playbook.

About Hunt 2 Conserve

Hunt 2 Conserve is a 501(c)4 nonprofit organization affiliated with the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Its mission is to advance a legacy of hunting and conservation by educating, activating and developing stewards and defenders of these fundamentally American ideals. For more information, go to hunt2conserve.org.