The Gold Butterfly logging and burning challenge, east of Corvallis, Montana, is in wolverine and grizzly bear habitat and bull trout essential habitat within the Sapphire Mountains on the Bitterroot Nationwide Forest. The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council filed a lawsuit on September ninth in opposition to the Bitterroot Nationwide Forest in search of to cease the Gold Butterfly logging and burning challenge.
The choice for the Gold Butterfly challenge authorizes bulldozing 23.7 miles of recent logging roads and including 16.5 miles of unlawful non-system roads into the system.
The choice requires commercially logging 5,281 acres, together with logging 567 acres of previous development forest, clearcutting throughout vast swaths of forest, and non-commercial tree-cutting and burning actions on an extra 2,084 acres
The Mission is prone to kill whitebark pine bushes, a species listed below the Endangered Species Act.
Business logging and bulldozing new logging roads are proposed on as much as 3,082 acres of whitebark pine habitat. Logging may harm or kill some whitebark pine and whitebark pine bushes could possibly be lower as a consequence of misidentification. Intentional burning may additionally kill whitebark pine bushes.
The Forest Service issued a site-specific Forest Plan Modification for a brand new site-specific previous development definition that permits a 46% discount in massive bushes per acre, limitless discount in cover closure, and the whittling down of previous development forest stands to stands as small as 4 acres in dimension.
It’s unclear which, if any, previous development administration indicator species may inhabit these denuded stands. The report signifies that the Gold Butterfly Mission actions will remove 2,998 acre of habitat for pine marten, and a couple of,451 acres of habitat for pileated woodpeckers, each of that are Forest Plan administration indicator species for previous development forests.
Pileated woodpecker populations have each declined as a consequence of logging exercise and widespread habitat destruction of mature forests and previous development forests.
The Gold Butterfly challenge makes a mockery of President Biden’s previous development forest safety plan. The Bitterroot Nationwide Forest has been violating the Forest Plan previous development normal for years, essentially altering previous development administration throughout the Forest with out ever analyzing the affect to the previous development administration indicator species.
This challenge can lower down massive bushes to solely 8 massive bushes per acre, and degrade hundreds of acres of habitat for the previous development administration indicator species. Quite than maximize retention of enormous bushes as required by legislation, this challenge really minimizes retention of enormous bushes.
Furthermore, the Wholesome Forest Act additionally requires the Forest Service to comply with the Forest Plan however the Gold Butterfly challenge violates the Forest Plan requirements for elk highway density and canopy.
I’m not positive why the Forest Service thinks the general public desires thousands and thousands of {dollars} of taxpayer funds spent destroying elk habitat on public lands when there may be already an enormous downside of elk fleeing to personal lands the place looking is prohibited.
The Forest Service estimates that the Gold Butterfly challenge will lead to a internet lack of $4.2 million to federal taxpayers.
Lastly, the Forest Service should put together a supplemental EIS to deal with new data relating to grizzly bears and wolverines within the Sapphire Mountains. The Forest Service must take a “arduous look” at potential impacts to grizzly bears and wolverines throughout this 8-year logging and road-building challenge. Scientists have found a lactating feminine wolverine within the challenge space, and there have been a number of situations of confirmed grizzly bear presence within the Sapphire Mountains over the previous yr. Each grizzly bears and wolverines are listed as threatened below the Endangered Species Act.
It’s no surprise the overwhelming majority of the hundreds of people that commented opposed the Gold Butterfly challenge because it’s estimated to run 6,000 to 7,000 loaded logging vehicles down Willow Creek Street, a dust highway.
This article by Mike Garrity was first printed by The Wildlife Information on 11 September 2024. Lead Picture: Picture by Idaho Division of Fish and Recreation.
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