© Michael Zahra

Three organizations are suing the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest for failing to fully consider how a large logging and burning project might affect grizzly bears and Canada lynx. It’s just one lawsuit in a larger effort to challenge an agency-wide policy that reduced protection for lynx. On Friday, three nonprofit organizations – Yellowstone to Uintas Connection, Native Ecosystems Council and Alliance for the Wild Rockies – filed a complaint in Missoula federal district court against the U.S. Forest Service and asked for an injunction to stop the Pintler Face Project until the Beaverhead Deerlodge National Forest does a more thorough analysis of threats to threatened species. The Pintler Face Project, which was approved by Wisdom District Ranger Molly Ryan in September 2021, would log or burn more than 11,000 acres along the southeastern edge of the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness over the course of five to 10 years.