Forest officials look to fix issues that stopped timber project

Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest Supervisor Cheryl Probert said Friday she and her staff are working to remedy problems that halted a large timber project in the Lolo Creek drainage.

Earlier this week, federal Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled the Forest Service and National Marine Fisheries Service failed to consider a sharp decline in steelhead protected by the Endangered Species Act when they approved the Lolo Insect and Disease project in 2019. The judge stayed the project, stopping work on two active timber sales purchased by the Idaho Forest Group. His ruling followed a lawsuit filed last year by the Friends of the Clearwater of Moscow and Alliance for the Wild Rockies of Missoula, Mont.

Because wild steelhead that are protected spawn in streams within the project area, the Forest Service was required to consult with the National Marine Fisheries Service to make sure logging wouldn’t unduly harm the fish. That analysis showed the logging would not likely jeopardize the existence of the population nor adversely affect critical habitat.

In the lawsuit, the groups said that finding was faulty and claimed the agencies relied on steelhead numbers from 2011 to 2015, when counts of wild Snake River B-run steelhead reached a 30-year high, but failed to take another look at the project when new data showed numbers dropped to a 25-year low in 2018-19.

The lawsuit brought several other claims against the agencies in addition to those related to steelhead. For example, the groups claimed the agencies should have updated their completed environmental documentation after Forest Service officials decided to replace additional culverts in the project area. They also said the logging would violate soil and sedimentation standards.

Winmill agreed with the steelhead claims and issued a stay on the project and ordered the agencies to perform new consultation. He sided with the Forest Service and National Marine Fisheries Service on other claims.

“We are pleased to have the court affirm the forest’s decision and analysis on most of the points in this lawsuit,” Probert said. “While I am disappointed with the court’s order to stay operations, we are working with our attorneys and National Marine Fisheries Service to quickly reinitiate consultation, as directed by the court.”

Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2273. Follow him on Twitter @ezebarker.