Young Grizzly Bear in Glacier National Park. Photo: George Wuerthner.

The Hungry Horse Ranger District on the Flathead National Forest in Montana recently announced the Moccasin Granite Project to “treat” a 67,536-acre area along the Wild and Scenic Middle Fork of the Flathead River which it alleges will reduce wildfire threat and “promote forest health.”

Among the lands that will be affected are roadless lands recommended for addition to the Great Bear Wilderness and roadless lands along the river corridor.

This corridor is within core grizzly bear habitat and will include the construction of 7.6 miles of new “temporary” roads. Access created by roads are a major source of mortality for grizzly bears. Roads also provide access to humans who are responsible for 84% of all wildfires.

The Forest Service uses its usual justification that it needs to fix our forests and control evolutionary processes and natural mortality caused by disease, insects and wildfire. Apparently, the only mortality the Forest Service finds acceptable is death caused by chainsaw medicine.

The entire project, besides compromising the scenery with logging along a........

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