Bitterroot, Flathead, and Lolo National Forests

Welcome to the Western Montana Planning Zone Web Site!

Court Ruling on the 2005 Planning Rule

On March 30, Judge Phyllis Hamilton of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California enjoined the Forest Service from implementing the 2005 Planning Rule. The Court held that the Forest Service violated the Administrative Procedures Act (APA), for not adequately involving the public in developing the 2005 Planning Rule; the Endangered Species Act (ESA), for not properly consulting with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), by improperly applying a categorical exclusion and not fully evaluating the environmental impacts in promulgating the 2005 Planning Rule. The court remanded the decision to the Department of Agriculture for compliance with the APA, ESA, and NEPA. The Bitterroot, Flathead, and Lolo National Forests will not release land management plans or begin objection periods until issues related to this court decision are resolved at the national level.

For more information please visit our National web site at:http://www.fs.fed.us/emc/nfma/2007_planning_rule.html. This site will be updated as information becomes available.

Western Montana Forest Planning Zone The Bitterroot, Lolo, and Flathead National Forests are revising their land management plans to reflect new scientific information as well as natural and social changes that have accumulated since the original plans were prepared, in the 1980s.