A U.S. magistrate judge said nonprofits were likely to succeed on their claim U.S. Fish and Wildlife failed to provide scientific support for its determination of what constitutes a secure habitat for a grizzly bear.
(CN) — A federal judge on Monday halted a large logging project in Montana over concerns the U.S. Forest Service hadn’t used to best available science in determining the project’s impact on grizzly bear habitat.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto in Missoula issued a preliminary injunction pausing the Greenhorn Vegetation Project at least until the lawsuit brought by the Alliance of the Wild Rockies and three other environmental advocacy organization has been decided on the merits.
The judge said the nonprofits had shown they were likely to succeed on the merits of their claim the Forest Service had violated the Endangered Species Act in so far as it relied on a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinion that used a 10-acre patch size to decide the secure habitat for grizzly bears in the logging area.
In particular, DeSoto pointed to a decision last year by a U.S. district judge that halted a different logging project in Montana, because the Forest Service didn’t offer a persuasive explanation that 10 acres was an adequate secure habitat for a grizzly bear.
“The same analytical gap appears in this matter,” the judge wrote. “While defendants have provided citations to explain that the 10-acre standard was derived from the 2024 Conservation Strategy for the Grizzly Bear in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, those references do not explain why 10-acres is the appropriate metric.”
The judge’s decision only addressed the nonprofits’ arguments pertaining to grizzly bear habitat. Since they were entitled to a preliminary injunction on that basis, she didn’t go into their arguments regarding Canada lynx habitat.
Representatives of the Justice Department, which represents the Forest Service in the litigation, and of the nonprofits did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Greenhorn Vegetation Project authorizes commercial and noncommercial logging activities as well as so-called prescribed fire for across about 16,000 acres in Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. The project also involves the maintenance or reconstruction of up to 24 miles of existing roads and the construction of 4.7 miles of temporary roads.
The concern about Fish and Wildlife’s 10-acre patch premise for grizzly bear habitat has been a theme in other challenges to logging projects.
Just last month, three of the same nonprofits that challenged the Greenhorn Vegetation Project sued federal agencies to challenge their redefinition of what constitutes secure habitat for grizzly bears and the approval for a Montana logging project they say will greatly impact grizzly conservation efforts.
A patch of secure habitat, established by scientific data, includes the space needed for an adult female grizzly to forage adequately for up to two days without coming near vehicle-use roads. In essence, grizzly bears need thousands of acres to meet daily necessities.
In 2021, the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Plan — with input from the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — secured a 2,500-acre minimum for secure grizzly habitat.
But Fish and Wildlife Service reversed the finding in 2025, saying that outside of the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem — a 16,000 square-mile stretch of land in northwestern Montana — grizzly “secure habitat” patches need one-acre of space. The Forest Service aligned with Fish and Wildlife Service’s finding and updated its guidance.
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