Montana Logging Project Lacks Hard Look, Conservationists Say

Environmental organizations challenged federal authorizations for the Mud Creek Vegetation Management Project in Montana, a project intended to improve landscape resilience to issues like disease and fire.

The US Forest Service is planning logging, non-commercial thinning, controlled burn activities, and road construction “without engaging in a ‘hard look’ analysis or public disclosure requirements” imposed by the National Environmental Policy Act, the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and others told the US District Court District of Montana on Thursday.

The groups said the Forest Service’s environmental assessment failed to provide sufficient site-specific information, including where logging or prescribed burns will take ...