Top Ten Things Alliance for the Wild Rockies Did to Protect the Northern Rockies Ecosystem in 2024

1) Halted Massive Illegal Old Growth Logging in Montana’s Little Belt Mountains.

The Alliance stopped the Horsefly logging and burning project in the Little Belt Mountains, north of White Sulphur Springs, Montana, to protect grizzly bear, wolverine, and northern goshawk habitat. The Helena-Lewis and Clark NF called for cutting and burning 10,343 acres—more than 16 square miles. To enable the logging, the Forest Service planned on bulldozing a stunning 40.7 miles of new logging roads. The federal district court ruled in our favor.

2) Saved Ashley National Forest Roadless Areas from Bulldozers and Chainsaws.

The Alliance filed a lawsuit to stop a Forest Service plan to bulldoze, log, and burn up to 147,000 acres (230 square miles!) of Inventoried Roadless Areas in the Ashley National Forest in northeast Utah. When faced with our lawsuit, the Forest Service decided to pull the project rather than lose in federal court.

Although facetiously called a “restoration project,” the Forest Service’s proposal blatantly violated the Federal Roadless Area Conservation Rule, which prohibits the cutting, sale or removal of trees inside Inventoried Roadless Areas except in very limited circumstances.

3) Stopped 320,000-acre, or 500-square mile, Pine Valley pinyon juniper logging and burning project in the Dixie National Forest in Utah.

The Alliance submitted detailed comments outlining the importance of pinyon juniper trees for wildlife, including for the pinyon jay, a bird that is dependent on pinyon pine seed and juniper berries to survive.  Pinyon jay populations have nose-dived, falling by over 85 percent in the last 50 years; mainly due to habitat loss caused by Forest Service and BLM projects.

4) Challenged Old Growth Logging in the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana.

The Alliance and Native Ecosystems Council filed a lawsuit in September to stop the Gold Butterfly logging and burning project, east of Corvallis, Montana. The project would destroy wolverine and grizzly bear habitat and bull trout critical habitat in the Sapphire Mountains on the Bitterroot National Forest.

5) Sued to “Stop the Chop” in Colville National Forest.

The Alliance filed a lawsuit in federal district court to stop the Forest Service’s Sxwutn-Kaniksu Connections Trail Project which authorizes logging, burning and road bulldozing for the next 20 years across 141 square miles impacting more than 90% of the Colville National Forest within the project area in eastern Washington and on the Idaho border in grizzly bear and lynx habitat.  The Forest Service has agreed to stop starting new logging projects until the Court issues a final ruling.

6) Filed Lawsuit to Restore Endangered Species Act Protections for Wolves.

The goal of state governments in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming is to once again exterminate wolves from the Northern Rockies. They think the only good wolf is a dead wolf. The goal of our lawsuit is to protect wolves under the Endangered Species Act and to end the slaughter.

7) Won an Injunction to Stop Logging and Burning in grizzly and lynx habitat on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in southwest Montana.

The Forest Service secretly removed protections for over one million acres of lynx habitat in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest because it would have stopped habitat destruction projects like this.  Thanks to our great attorneys, the court ruled in our favor.

8) Took on the Forest Service in Federal Court to protect grizzly and wolverine habitat in the Bitterroot Mountains.

The Alliance filed a lawsuit against the Bitterroot National Forest challenging the Mud Creek Project early last year. Over the course of 20 years, the project would commercially log 13,700 acres—including 4,800 acres of clearcuts in areas with mature and old growth forests—and would intentionally burn an additional 40,360 acres of National Forest lands in southwest Montana.

9) Fought to get a Court Order requiring the Fish and Wildlife Service to Proceed with Grizzly Bear Recovery in the Bitterroot ecosystem in central Idaho and western Montana.

The Alliance won a big victory in federal district court when the court ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to move forward on recovering grizzly bears in this region, as required by the Endangered Species Act.

10) Still working to protect all Greater Yellowstone Wilderness Study Areas as Wilderness.

There’s a big controversy right now over the future of hundreds of thousands of acres of Forest Service lands abutting Yellowstone National Park and comprising the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. These lands are primarily in the Gallatin and Madison ranges, which are facing increasing pressures from a variety of development and recreational pressures.

The Alliance is fighting to pass the Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection Act, S. 1531, which would protect all Greater Yellowstone Wilderness Study Areas as Wilderness along with designating all roadless areas in the Northern Rockies as Wilderness.

What’s Next? Our attorneys are working hard to file three new lawsuits to stop even more proposed logging and clearcutting projects in grizzly, lynx, and wolverine habitat.

In addition to working on filing new lawsuits, our attorneys are waiting on court rulings challenging the East Paradise grazing project, the South Plateau logging project on the border of Yellowstone National Park, and the Hanna Flats project in the Idaho Panhandle National Forest. And finally, we submitted comments to several dozen individual projects proposed by the Forest Service and BLM for wild lands across the Northern Rockies region.

Please consider donating on Giving Tuesday to help the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Counterpunch do more in 2025. We and our planet need your help.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to protect the Northern Rockies ecosystem.

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