Download the comments (PDF)

Download the Press Release (PDF)
Download the Northwest Naturalist (PDF)

The Lolo National Forest has dropped plans to defend logging and thinning the Soldier-Butler project in the Ninemile Ranger District west of Missoula after two federal court defeats. Read more, download the Missoulian article from March 20, 2022. (Download the PDF)

The Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force praised the final ruling and order on the Soldier-Butler Project which upholds the Findings and Recommendations issued by Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto. The Task Force sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service over the Biological Opinion and Final Decision on the Soldier-Butler Project, a large roadbuilding and logging project in the Ninemile area of the Lolo National Forest northwest of Missoula. The Project would result in 16 miles of permanent and temporary roads and remove nearly 18 million board feet of logs in the heart of the designated Ninemile Demographic Connectivity Area for female grizzly bears and their cubs established by the Conservation Strategy for Grizzly Bears. All of the government’s objections to the findings and recommendations were overruled and all aspects of it upheld. The ruling and order come from federal Judge Dana Christensen.

Court Ruling and Order on Soldier-Butler Project (PDF)
Judge Halts Forest Project, Missoulian, October 6, 2021 (PDF)
Wildlife Heritage Faces Assault, Opinion, Missoulian, October 14, 2021 (PDF)

The Flathead-Lolo-Bitterroot Citizen Task Force has released a new report, “Grizzly Bear Denning Habitat and Demographic Connectivity in Northern Idaho And Western Montana,” authored by independent wildlife consultant Mike Bader and Paul Sieracki, geospatial analyst and wildlife biologist. They identify numerous places where female bears can reside year-round between the Northern Continental Divide, Cabinet-Yaak and Bitterroot Grizzly Bear Recovery Areas. The authors also recommend additions to the Bitterroot Recovery Area and more effective motorized access management. Download the report (PDF)

Task Force field trip visit with Ninemile landowners gets front page news coverage in the Sunday, August 1, Missoulian. Download the Missoulian article (PDF)