Logging Project Near Yellowstone Withdrawn by Gardiner District Ranger
The ranger said the project would protect forest health and reduce wildfire risk after public concerns over logging near the Yellowstone gateway.
- On Thursday, Gardiner District Ranger Clint Kolarich withdrew the Cooke City Fuels Project, a 19,921-acre logging plan near Yellowstone National Park designed to reduce wildfire threats to Cooke City and Silver Gate.
- Conservation groups challenged the federal government, arguing the project used unproven methods that threatened endangered Whitebark Pine and Canada lynx while disrupting critical grizzly bear habitat.
- The Forest Service project estimated a $2.8 million net loss to American taxpayers; Mike Garrity of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies noted vast majority of residents opposed logging beyond the wildland-urban interface.
- Deputy Chief for Ecosystem Management Coordination Jacqueline Buchanan authorized the withdrawal, as advocates urged the agency to help residents harden homes with non-flammable roofs instead of logging roadless areas.
- The decision reflects past conservation victories, including the halted Round Star logging project in the Flathead National Forest, reinforcing protections for the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone.
12 Articles
12 Articles
Idaho State Journal
U.S. Forest Service drops large logging, thinning project near Yellowstone National Park
A large logging project near Cooke City and an entrance to Yellowstone National Park has been scrubbed by the U. S. Forest Service after conservation groups challenged the federal government, saying it was using unproven methods at the risk of…
The Billings Gazette
Logging project near Yellowstone withdrawn by Gardiner District ranger
The Cooke City Fuels and Forest Health Project on the Custer Gallatin National Forest was proposed across more than 19,200 acres in Park County.
Forest Service Withdraws Cooke City Deforestation Project on the Border of Yellowstone National Park After Being Sued by Conservation Groups
Morning in the Beartooth-Absaroka Range, Montana. Photo: Jeffrey St. Clair. Alliance for the Wild Rockies, Dr. Jesse Logan, Native Ecosystems Council, and the Gallatin Wildlife Association secured another significant win for the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem after the Forest Service withdrew a deforestation project that would have affected one of the healthiest whitebark pine forests in the nation and thousands of acres of Inventoried Roadless …
Forest Service rescinds Cooke City logging project after lawsuit challenge
The project would have permitted commercial and non-commercial logging and burning on more than 3,000 acres of the Custer Gallatin National Forest, less than three miles from Yellowstone National Park.
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