HELENA – A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit challenging nine forest-management projects on the Kootenai National Forest in northwestern Montana.
A three-judge appellate panel Thursday denied an appeal by the Missoula-based WildWest Institute, formerly known as the Ecology Center.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court panel upheld a 2006 ruling by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, who rejected a series of claims brought by the institute.
The lawsuit challenged six Kootenai Forest projects approved in 2004: the Bristow Area Restoration, the Fortine, the West Troy, the Pipestone Timber Sale and Restoration, the Lower Big Creek, and the South McSwede Timber Sale and Restoration projects. It also challenged some projects planned for approval in 2005, including Cow Creek, Alder Creek and the McSuttan, which was approved.
The forest estimated the projects would collectively yield about 76 million board-feet of timber during a 2-3 year period.
Molloy in 2006 entered a summary judgment in favor of the Forest Service, a ruling the appeals court affirmed.
“We conclude that the Forest Service complied with the substantive requirements of NFMA (the National Forest Management Act) and the Forest Plan,” the appeals panel said in Thursday’s ruling. “The Forest Service also took the requisite ‘hard look’ at the environmental effects of the projects before approving them.”
Matthew Koehler, executive director of the WildWest Institute, did not immediately reply to a telephone message left at his office Thursday seeking comment.
Paul Bradford, supervisor of the Kootenai National Forest, did not immediately return a reporter’s phone call.