Judge Orders Federal Logging Project Halted in Shawnee National Forest – WTOP News
The ruling found the Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act by approving logging before completing consultation on federally protected Indiana bats.
- On Monday, District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ordered the U.S. Forest Service to suspend a commercial logging project in Shawnee National Forest, ruling the agency's 2024 approval violated the Endangered Species Act.
- The agency approved the project in October 2024 without waiting for a final "biological opinion" from the Fish and Wildlife Service, which was completed six weeks later and identified the roughly 70-acre project area as habitat for endangered Indiana bats.
- Contractor work began in mid-August 2025, thinning 40 of 67 acres before operations halted; Rosenstengel rejected the agency's argument against vacating approval, writing, "Because the Forest Service did not do so, it violated the ESA."
- Sam Stearns, public education coordinator with the Regional Association of Concerned Environmentalists, called the ruling a vindication, stating "the Forest Service cannot be trusted to tell the truth."
- Meanwhile, the Trump administration this summer finalized rules weakening the Endangered Species Act and rolling back a 25-year-old policy blocking road construction, moves environmental groups claim would expand logging on federal lands.
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14 Articles
Judge orders federal logging project halted in Shawnee National Forest – WTOP News
A federal judge this week ordered the U.S. Forest Service to suspend a commercial logging project in southern Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest, finding the 2024 approval of the project under President Joe Biden violated the Endangered Species Act. The agency improperly approved the project in October 2024 without waiting for a final “biological opinion” from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, an East St. Louis judge ruled Monday. That opinion,…
Associated Press News
Judge orders federal logging project halted in Shawnee National Forest
A federal judge this week ordered the U.S. Forest Service to suspend a commercial logging project in southern Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest, finding the 2024 approval of the project under President Joe Biden violated the Endangered Species Act.
Judge orders federal logging project halted in Shawnee National Forest – Capitol News IL
A federal judge ruled the 2024 approval of the project under President Joe Biden violated the Endangered Species Act. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified the roughly 70-acre project area as home to the federally protected Indiana bat.
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