CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Conservation Groups Challenge Removal of Wildlife Protections on 1.1 Million Acres of Public Land in Montana

Four Montana-based Conservation Groups — Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Gallatin Wildlife Association, Native Ecosystems Council, and Council on Fish & Wildlife — sued the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service for removing wildlife protections on 1.1 million acres of the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest in Montana.

The federal government agencies issued a “Forest Plan Amendment” in 2025 to remove protections on 1.1 million acres of habitat that was formerly mapped and protected as “lynx habitat” for the Canada lynx, a threatened species listed under the Endangered Species Act.  The removal of these protections will allow more private logging operations on these publicly-owned lands.  Lynx are highly sensitive to logging operations, and are known to avoid logged areas.  The lynx population in the Greater Yellowstone Area is........

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