Court affirms Flathead Forest's revised plan; more litigation expected

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Flathead National Forest’s Revised Forest Plan last week — the latest ruling in continuing litigation between the Forest Service and environmental groups.

The court’s decision allows current forest management projects to proceed and confirms the accuracy of a 2022 biological opinion, which recently took the place of the previous 2017 opinion that was remanded — the result of previous litigation.

The suit — brought to the courts by Swan View Coalition and Friends of the Wild Swan — alleged that the revised forest plan violated the National Environmental Policy Act for its failure to consider possible impacts to grizzly bears and bull trout.

The groups also claimed that the Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service violated the Endangered Species Act because it failed to consider the effects to grizzly bears from the forest plan’s road management framework.

Flathead Forest officials said they were pleased with the court’s decision.

“Our forest plan provides an integrated set of management direction for sustainable opportunities and multiple uses of the forest’s lands and resources,” said Kira Powell, the public affairs officer for the Flathead National Forest, in an email.

The American Forest Resource Council, along with the Montana Logging Association, participated in the litigation as intervenors on behalf of the Forest Service, according to the resource council.

“We're pleased that projects can now move forward and that our forest sector is given that certainty moving forward as they work with the forest service to implement these projects,” said Nick Smith, the American Forest Resource Council’s public affairs director.

However, the decision at the 9th Circuit will assist the environmental groups in future litigations, according to Keith Hammer, chair of the Swan View Coalition.

The decision marks a clear path forward for the group’s next lawsuit, which is in district court, and separates Missoula District Court Judge Donald Molloy’s past decisions from future ones. The appeal to the 9th circuit, Hammer said, was just a procedural action.

"It clears the path for our new lawsuit in the district court to move forward without any issues of it being precluded by Molloy’s prior decision or the 9th circuit," Hammer said.

The next lawsuit, which was filed in May of last year by the Swan View Coalition and Friend of the Wild Swan, claims that the revised biological opinion from 2022 doesn’t do enough to protect grizzlies and bull trout due to its management plans for building, opening and closing forest roads.

“There is a silver lining here,” Hammer said. “We can’t be hindered [in our next lawsuit] by the previous ruling or by the 9th Circuit.”

Forest Service representatives said they are taking the continued court battles case-by-case.

“The forest plan revision process took six years to complete. During these six years, the Forest Service engaged in a collaborative and science-based approach to develop this new management plan, integrating important natural resource objectives and promoting ecological integrity of our national forest while considering social and economic sustainability,” Powell said. “The Flathead is looking forward to continuing its mission to manage the land in alignment with the Revised Forest Plan.”

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.