Litigation Threatens Newly Minted Flathead Forest Plan

A newly minted management plan for the Flathead National Forest to guide a wide range of uses on 2.4 million acres will face opposition as a pair of Montana conservation groups announced their intent to challenge the plan, saying it “abandons key measures that have protected grizzly bear and bull trout habitat on the Forest for more than two decades.”

Swan View Coalition and Friends of the Wild Swan announced they have notified the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service their plans to file a lawsuit, which centers on allowances within the plan for new road building and other wildlife disturbances in wildlife habitat.

Flathead National Forest Supervisor Chip Weber said the plan considered the needs of all stakeholders, including timber interests, hikers, horsemen, mountain bikers, snowmobilers, cabin owners, boaters, anglers, grizzly bears, bull trout, and nearly everyone else with a stake in the management of public lands on the Flathead National Forest.

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