Federal judge OKs logging of burned trees by roads

by The Associated Press
| June 12, 2014 9:00 PM

BOZEMAN — A federal judge has ruled that logging will be allowed along roads in part of the Gallatin National Forest scorched by wildfire.

U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in Missoula ruled last week that logging along 15 miles of roads won’t harm endangered grizzly bear or lynx.

The Millie Fire in 2012 burned about 16 square miles along Storm Castle Creek in Gallatin Canyon.

The U.S. Forest Service in April 2013 approved the Millie Roadside Hazard Tree Removal Project.

Last August the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council filed a lawsuit contending the proposed logging could harm endangered species.

But Christensen ruled the groups failed to prove their argument.

Up to 730 acres will be logged.