The Gold Butterfly logging and burning undertaking, east of Corvallis, Montana, is in wolverine and grizzly bear habitat and bull trout vital 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 towards the Bitterroot Nationwide Forest in search of to cease the Gold Butterfly logging and burning undertaking.
The choice for the Gold Butterfly undertaking 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 progress forest, clearcutting throughout vast swaths of forest, and non-commercial tree-cutting and burning actions on an extra 2,084 acres
The Venture is prone to kill whitebark pine bushes, a species listed beneath 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 reduce as a result 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 progress definition that permits a 46% discount in massive bushes per acre, limitless discount in cover closure, and the whittling down of previous progress forest stands to stands as small as 4 acres in dimension.
It’s unclear which, if any, previous progress administration indicator species may inhabit these denuded stands. The document signifies that the Gold Butterfly Venture actions will eradicate 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 progress forests.
Pileated woodpecker populations have each declined as a result of logging exercise and widespread habitat destruction of mature forests and previous progress forests.
The Gold Butterfly undertaking makes a mockery of President Biden’s previous progress forest safety plan. The Bitterroot Nationwide Forest has been violating the Forest Plan previous progress commonplace for years, basically altering previous progress administration throughout the Forest with out ever analyzing the influence to the previous progress administration indicator species.
This undertaking can reduce down massive bushes to solely 8 massive bushes per acre, and degrade 1000’s of acres of habitat for the previous progress administration indicator species. Reasonably than maximize retention of huge bushes as required by legislation, this undertaking truly minimizes retention of huge bushes.
Furthermore, the Wholesome Forest Act additionally requires the Forest Service to observe the Forest Plan however the Gold Butterfly undertaking violates the Forest Plan requirements for elk street density and canopy.
I’m not certain why the Forest Service thinks the general public needs hundreds of thousands of {dollars} of taxpayer funds spent destroying elk habitat on public lands when there’s already an enormous downside of elk fleeing to personal lands the place searching is prohibited.
The Forest Service estimates that the Gold Butterfly undertaking will lead to a web lack of $4.2 million to federal taxpayers.
Lastly, the Forest Service should put together a supplemental EIS to deal with new data concerning grizzly bears and wolverines within the Sapphire Mountains. The Forest Service must take a “onerous look” at potential impacts to grizzly bears and wolverines throughout this 8-year logging and road-building undertaking. Scientists have found a lactating feminine wolverine within the undertaking space, and there have been a number of cases of confirmed grizzly bear presence within the Sapphire Mountains over the previous 12 months. Each grizzly bears and wolverines are listed as threatened beneath the Endangered Species Act.
It’s no marvel the overwhelming majority of the 1000’s of people that commented opposed the Gold Butterfly undertaking because it’s estimated to run 6,000 to 7,000 loaded logging vehicles down Willow Creek Highway, a mud street.
This article by Mike Garrity was first printed by The Wildlife Information on 11 September 2024. Lead Picture: Photograph by Idaho Division of Fish and Recreation.
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