Groups Sue to Halt Round Star Logging Project Near Whitefish

Four environmental groups have filed a lawsuit to halt a logging project on about 9,000 acres of land near Tally Lake west of Whitefish, calling the project “ill-conceived” and framing it as a “clearcut” in lynx habitat.

The groups — Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Council on Wildlife and Fish, Yellowstone to Uintas Connection and Native Ecosystems Council — filed suit on Jan. 8 in U.S. District Court in Missoula. The complaint accuses the Flathead National Forest of violating the National Environmental Policy Act as well as the National Forest Management Act.

Called the Round Star Project and first proposed in December 2021, the project authorized commercial timber harvests on up to 6,324 acres and non-commercial vegetation treatments on up to 2,866 acres, as well as the construction of more than 20 miles of new roads.

“If anyone wonders why we’re taking the Forest Service to court over the Round Star logging project, there is one primary reason: Lynx critical habitat is the worst place for clearcuts,” Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said in a prepared statement announcing the litigation, which he said he felt was compulsory after the federal agency failed to “take the legally required ‘hard look’ at the effects on wildlife and habitat connectivity as a result of the Round Star project, as well as multiple other nearby and adjoining projects.

“Cumulatively, these projects total almost 42,000 acres of logging and burning and 100 miles of new road building in close proximity to the Round Star Project area,” Garrity said. “Yet the impacts of these projects were not even mentioned in the Environmental Assessment.”

That environmental assessment led to a final decision notice signed in April 2024 by Tally Lake District Ranger Bill Mulholland, who characterized the Round Star project, approximately 92% of which lies in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), as an opportunity to reduce tree densities and fuel loading on a total of 9,190 acres of forest. He said it would also help diversify plant and tree communities, provide a mix of forest products for local economies and expand recreation opportunities in the Round Meadow Area, including additional cross-country skiing trails, according to the decision notice.

The Flathead National Forest has two active sales from the Round Star project: One of them, called the Good Neighbor Authority Roundstar, includes 10,200 ccf (1,020,000 cubic feet of lumber) and was sold to F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company on May 24, 2024. The other sale, called the Roundski DxP, includes 5,681 ccf (568,100 cubic feet of lumber) and was sold to Leever and Sons on June 6, 2024.

The project area is located on the northwest side of the Flathead Valley, approximately 13 miles west of Whitefish. It extends from Round Meadow to the northwest corner of Star Meadows. The project would expand the Round Meadow Cross-Country Ski Area by creating 5.6 miles of additional trails as well as infrastructure to keep pace with increasing recreational use, Mulholland said.

Most of the project area was identified in the 2020 Montana Forest Action Plan as a priority for fuels reduction to protect residential communities. It is also partially located within the Connecting Fuels Treatments in the Salish Mountains and Whitefish Range Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership Project Area.

Forest officials say they received 45 public comments regarding the project after the Tally Lake Ranger District sought initial public input in December 2021. Some commenters expressed full support for fuels reduction, timber harvest and recreation expansion in the project area. Other commenters expressed concern for fish and wildlife species, particularly bull trout, grizzly bear, lynx and wolverine. A few commenters provided input and suggestions for the recreation expansion at Round Meadow Cross-Country Ski Area.

The project area’s northeast side abuts the Round Meadow Recreation Area, which provides opportunities for groomed Nordic skiing and snowshoeing during the winter season and hiking, biking and equestrian use during the summer. Like other recreational areas in the Flathead Valley, the Round Meadow trails have seen an increase in use in recent years, and the Round Star Project would include the addition of non-motorized trail to accommodate the influx of visitors, Mulholland said.

The project was modified to include an additional parking area on the south side of National Forest System Road 539 to mitigate safety concerns of skiers crossing the road to access the new trails in the Round Meadow area. The recreation component of the proposed activities was further modified to include barriers and gates to minimize user conflict between motorized and non-motorized recreation use of the proposed trails. Several units were modified to be responsive to concerns about wildlife habitat.

“The project team considered all comments and agreed upon an alternative that meets project objectives while minimizing impacts to other resources,” according to forest managers.

Improvements to the recreation area would include a new warming shelter and a storage building to accommodate government-owned grooming equipment at the trailhead, as well as an expansion of the Round Meadow parking area. The expansion would allow ease of access for horse trailers and would provide additional parking spaces during the busy winter season, the draft decision notice stated. The new roads would be closed year-round to public motorized access following implementation, the proposal states. Additional actions would include 3.4 miles of temporary road construction which would be rehabilitated after use, and 1.5 miles of road changed from open year-round to open seasonally.

In August 2022, after Flathead Forest officials released a draft decision notice and an updated environmental assessment, touching off a 45-day objection period, during which the agency received eight submissions. The American Forest Resource Council, the Montana Logging Association and the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation voiced their support of the project. Five other submissions objected to the project on a range of issues related to wildlife habitat. Those objections were received from organizations including: Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Native Ecosystem Council, Friends of the Wild Swan, and Swan View Coalition. Objections were also received from two individuals.

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