Most Claims Tossed in Idaho Panhandle Logging Project Challenge

The US Forest Service successfully trimmed a suit claiming that it failed to adequately analyze a logging project’s effects on imperiled bull trout and flammulated owls, after a federal judge in Idaho dismissed several claims.

Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council sued the Forest Service in June for approving the Buckskin Saddle Integrated Restoration Project. The project would allow for 10-15 years of commercial logging, non-commercial thinning, road building, and burning in the Sandpoint District of the Idaho Panhandle National Forest in northern Idaho.

The groups said the project has the potential to destroy critical habitat for ...