BILLINGSGAZETTE.COM - May 11, 2009

BY: Gazette News Services

Appeals Court Halts Logging Project Yaak Area

HELENA - A federal appeals court panel Monday granted a temporary injunction to halt logging and road-building on the Northeast Yaak Project in the Kootenai National Forest.

The Project authorized logging of approximately 16.7 million board feet of timber from 1,777 acres, building new roads and reopening closed roads in the Cabinet-Yaak Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies sued in federal court in December 2007, arguing the project would have a detrimental impact on the endangered grizzly bear.

U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy, in Missoula, halted a small portion of the logging project, saying further evaluation was needed into effects of helicopter logging on "core" grizzly habitat. But Molloy ruled against the plaintiffs on all other issues and said the project could proceed. The plaintiffs appealed and on Monday were granted a temporary injunction.