Court Clears Way for Forest Management Project in Montana

Last week, the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana allowed the Forest Service's Gold Butterfly Project on the Bitterroot National Forest to proceed. The project is in Ravalli County east of Corvallis in southwest Montana. The project authorizes almost 5,300 acres of commercial harvest, almost 2,100 acres of non-commercial treatments, prescribed burning, and replanting. Nearly 60% of the treatments are in the wildland-urban interface, and more than 90% are in a treatment area designated under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. Continuing over the course of several years, the project will reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire affecting nearby communities, provide timber products and related jobs, improve water quality, and restore forest habitats.

In late March, the district court ruled that the Forest Service complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), National Forest Management Act (NFMA), and the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. The court identified a limited scope of discrepancies about how the project examined effects to grizzly bears and sent the project decision back to the Forest Service for additional explanation. After the Forest Service provided that explanation in early April, the court said the Forest Service fully explained its analysis and has always considered transient grizzly bears in the project area. The decision is subject to appeal in the Ninth Circuit.

"Responsible forest management produces much-needed timber, makes housing more affordable, prevents wildfires, and saves lives," said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). "We are combating efforts to weaponize procedural statutes against the responsible use of America's vast natural resources. The court in this case properly remanded to the Forest Service in March to allow the agency to correct limited errors, which were quickly addressed. In last week's decision, the court rightly deferred to the Forest Service's analysis of environmental effects."

In March 2025, President Donald J. Trump issued an executive orderLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. to expand American timber production. One of the purposes of the executive order is to save American lives and communities through forest management and wildfire risk reduction projects.

Senior Trial Attorney John Tustin of ENRD's Natural Resources Section handled the case.