Groups Challenge Pipeline Through Montana Federal Wilderness

The US Fish and Wildlife Service unlawfully approved a permanent water-diversion pipeline in the Red Rock Lakes Wilderness, environmental groups alleged in a federal complaint filed in Montana.

The project—which would involve digging a six-foot deep, mile-long trench to install a 14-inch pipeline—is a blatant violation of the Wilderness Act, which prohibits FWS from intentionally modifying wilderness habitat, Wilderness Watch and other groups said in their complaint.

The project intends to pipe water into Upper Red Rock Lake to boost oxygen levels during the winter to preserve the diminishing Arctic grayling population. But the groups say that overfishing, habitat destruction, ...