MISSOULA, MT — Grizzly bear advocates are celebrating two recent legal victories that could significantly impact the preservation of secure habitats for grizzlies in northwest Montana and across national forests. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld key decisions from Missoula federal district judge Donald Molloy, which could force the U.S. Forest Service to revisit its plans for the Black Ram logging project and improve its analysis of road impacts on grizzly bear populations.
The Black Ram project, located in the Kootenai National Forest, has been a focal point in the ongoing battle to protect grizzly bear habitat. The Ninth Circuit upheld Molloy’s ruling on two of the four claims in the case, which found that the Forest Service failed to comply with the Kootenai Forest Plan’s road density standards. The agency was ordered to revise its project analysis, particularly regarding unauthorized roads.
The issue of road density has long been a concern for grizzly bear conservationists. Roads in bear habitats increase the likelihood of human-bear conflicts, as they provide access to remote areas where grizzlies live. Research has shown that when road density exceeds two miles per square mile, bear populations suffer due to both increased human presence and higher mortality rates.
In the case of the Black Ram project, the area in question already has an alarming road density of nearly three miles per square mile, with 408 miles of roads crisscrossing the 153-square-mile region. The proposed project would add 3.3 miles of new permanent road and reconstruct 90 miles of existing roads. But the Forest Service also failed to account for unauthorized roads, often created by illegal human activity that bypasses barriers such as gates and berms.
Despite the Forest Service’s argument that unauthorized roads were not significant, environmental groups presented evidence from surveys showing widespread illegal road use. A 2020 and 2021 survey by the Yaak Valley Forest Council documented well-worn tracks and breached barriers, revealing the extent of unauthorized road activity. In some cases, the Forest Service had failed to repair barriers promptly, allowing illegal use to continue for years.
The Ninth Circuit ruled that the Forest Service could not exclude these unauthorized roads from its analysis, emphasizing that the agency must take a “hard look” at their impacts. The court found that the Forest Service’s claims that unauthorized road use was “sporadic” and that barrier repairs were timely lacked sufficient evidence.
Mike Garrity, Executive Director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, praised the court’s decision. “The Cabinet-Yaak grizzly population is failing to meet recovery targets, and it’s long past time for the Forest Service to protect their habitat,” he said. “This ruling makes it clear that the agency must follow the law and stop destroying critical grizzly bear habitat.”
In addition to the Black Ram case, another legal challenge involving the Fish and Wildlife Service’s biological opinion on the effects of roads on grizzly bears and bull trout in the Flathead National Forest also saw progress. In 2022, the Forest Service and Fish and Wildlife Service had appealed a ruling that found their analysis inadequate in considering the impact of ineffective road closures. The Ninth Circuit granted the government’s request to dismiss the appeal, meaning the Fish and Wildlife Service will have to produce a new biological opinion that considers the effect of “impassable” roads on these species.
Tim Preso, an attorney with Earthjustice, noted that such dismissals are common in legal proceedings, as agencies may file appeals to preserve their options before ultimately deciding not to pursue them. “This dismissal should lead to more accurate assessments of road impacts on wildlife in the Flathead National Forest,” Preso said.
For conservation groups like Friends of the Wild Swan and the Swan View Coalition, this legal development is a critical win in the ongoing fight to limit road building in national forests. Keith Hammer, Chair of the Swan View Coalition, emphasized the importance of counting unauthorized roads when assessing road density. “We are glad to see the ruling stand and hope the government now recognizes the need for meaningful limits on road building in grizzly bear habitats,” Hammer said.
These recent court rulings signal a growing recognition of the need to protect grizzly bear habitats from the negative impacts of roads and logging projects. As the U.S. Forest Service is forced to reassess its plans, grizzly bear advocates are hopeful that these decisions will lead to stronger protections for one of the most iconic and endangered species in the American West.
