Jim Petersen

Bad juju is drifting through the halls of the U.S. Federal Courthouse in Missoula. How else to explain the Court’s rejection of two forest restoration projects on the Kootenai National Forest in only 41 days. Judge Donald Malloy shut down the Black Ram Project on Aug. 17 and Judge Dana Christensen’s July 7 ruling upended the Ripley Project. …Protection requires a manufacturing facility capable of processing removed wood fiber — an essential first step in protecting interface homes and forests from wildfire. Planning for a small log mill gave the economically depressed area hope for the future. Those plans are now up in smoke. …Congress needs to sever the connection between the anti-forestry mob and the Equal Access to Justice Act. Taxpayers should not have to pay the legal fees for eco-terrorists that raise billions of dollars annually from their donors.