Judith Springs logging decision nears in Little Belt Mountains
Judith Springs Vegetation Project
U.S. Forest Service· Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, Judith-Musselshell Ranger DistrictU.S. Forest Service project page ↗
Forest ServiceWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.
The groups on this fight
4 groups work Montana
By footprint, from the same match the STAND matchmaker runs; none is linked to this decision in our record yet. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- American Prairie
Works Montana: defending its own bison herd, formally protesting BLM's revocation of grazing permits on 63,000 public-land acres.
- Defenders of Wildlife
Works Montana: named plaintiff in the Rock Creek Mine case, which turned on threatened grizzly bears and bull trout.
- Earthjustice
Works Montana: counsel in the long-running litigation against the Rock Creek and Montanore mines proposed beneath the wilderness.
- Western Watersheds Project
Works Montana: filed a protest against BLM's revocation of the bison grazing permits.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
The Forest Service is close to approving 7,600 acres of commercial logging in Montana's Little Belt Mountains.
What’s at risk
Only people who filed written comments during the earlier public participation window are eligible to object. At stake are 7,600 acres of commercial timber harvest across the Spring Creek, Musselshell, and South Fork Judith River watersheds in the Little Belt Mountains, along with an additional 3,746 acres of non-commercial thinning and 2,427 acres of fuels treatments.
If this goes through
The Forest Service would authorize commercial logging across 7,600 acres of the Little Belt Mountains, a decision that would be difficult to reverse once the final notice is signed.
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
In the agency’s own words
The Responsible Official, District Ranger Jason Oltrogge, has prepared an Environmental Assessment, Finding of No Significant Impact and draft Decision Notice for the Judith Springs Vegetation Project. The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest Service, Judith-Musselshell Ranger District, has proposed the Judith Springs Vegetation Project located on the east side of the Little Belt Mountains north of Highway 12. Treatments would occur on Forest Service land in the Spring Creek,?Musselshell?and South Fork Judith River watersheds. The purpose of the project is to?reduce hazardous fuel loading and?to?provide timber…
Did the agency answer?
The decision responded to 0 of the 2 issues raised on this record.
Issues on the record, awaiting the decision
- PendingThe post-treatment fire behavior model is run using the same extreme weather inputs as the no-action model: 21 mph gridded winds, 1-hour fuel moisture of 5, 10-hour of 6, and 100-hour of 7.
The post-treatment fire behavior model is run using the same extreme weather inputs as the no-action model: 21 mph gridded winds, 1-hour fuel moisture of 5, 10-hour of 6, and 100-hour of 7. These are severe fire weather conditions. The document never states what percentile of fire weather these inputs represent, whether they reflect the 90th, 97th, or some other design fire scenario, or whether they are appropriate for evaluating the full range of probable fire conditions the treated landscape would face. Without this disclosure, the modeled improvement cannot be evaluated as realistic or conservative. The agency should identify the fire weather percentile used, disclose the basis for selecting it, and analyze at least one lower-intensity weather scenario.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own analysis, quote verified against the document
- PendingThe document's methodology table lists crown fire activity and flame length as the sole measures for all three resource condition indicators.
The document's methodology table lists crown fire activity and flame length as the sole measures for all three resource condition indicators. No measure addresses smoke production, air quality impacts on nearby communities, or compliance with Clean Air Act permit limits during prescribed burns, even though the law section acknowledges the project must operate within a Montana DEQ open burn permit. With 2,427 acres of hand and prescribed fire treatments and 160 acres of post-harvest burning proposed, smoke impacts are a foreseeable effect that is identified in law but not analyzed. The agency should add smoke and air quality as an effect indicator, disclose the applicable permit limits, and analyze whether the proposed burning schedule can be accomplished within those limits.
A hole PLAN found in the agency’s own analysis, quote verified against the document
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