Roads lawsuit brings split decision
An aerial view of a Forest Service Road in this file photo.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto March 12 recommended that two local environmental groups partially prevail in their claims against the Forest Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service over road management on the Flathead National Forest.
The recommendations, if they hold, could drastically alter the way the Forest Service manages closed roads in the future.
In 2018 the Flathead National Forest issued a new Forest Plan. Under that plan, in consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Forest Service crafted a road management plan that would allow it to close roads by simply putting up barriers or other closures in the first 50 to 300 feet of the road.
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