Photograph by John Lambing / Alamy
Stop Black Ram!
The forests of the Yaak Valley (deep in the Kootenai National Forest) have become a line in the sand.
This remote ancient forest is home to an endangered population of grizzly bears and contains 600-800 year old larch trees nestled alongside of giant subalpine fir, spruce, red cedar and western hemlock trees.
A 95,000+ acre logging project known as Black Ram was approved in 2022 — which was set to destroy this majestic old growth forest.
Thankfully, our collective efforts to intervene were successful, and the Black Ram project was subsequently halted by a federal judge.
But the U.S. Forest Service has now appealed the decision to the Ninth Circuit.
Updates on Black Ram Project:
August 17, 2023:
A federal judge in Montana blocked the “Black Ram Project” within the Kootenai National Forest, ruling that the U.S. Forest Service made a series of errors when authorizing the project last year.
According to the order from U.S. District Judge Donald M. Molloy, the Forest Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s approval of the project in June 2022 “violated various statutory requirements” under the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and National Forest Management Act.
To learn more about the ruling, read the full article found here.
August 26, 2022:
The nation’s leading forest scientist, Dr. Dominick DellaSala, conducted a field visit to the Black Ram logging project area, concluding, “I can say unequivocally that this site is old growth, is critically important to its surroundings, has key climate and refugia properties, including the potential for large amounts of above and below ground carbon to continue to accumulate over centuries.”
Additionally, the U.S. Forest Service “claims [Black Ram] is for climate resilience, while my observations show it would have the opposite effect.”
His full report can be read here: Observations and Concerns About the USFS Approved Black Ram Logging Project.
June 30, 2022:
Conservation groups sued the U.S. Forest Service today to challenge its approval of a massive logging project that would clearcut thousands of acres and log mature and old-growth forest in the Kootenai National Forest in northwestern Montana.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Missoula, says the logging and road construction would threaten an imperiled population of grizzly bears on the Montana-Canada border and release significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere. The full press release can be found here.
June 21, 2022:
The egregious Black Ram logging project in the Kootenai National Forest was approved by the U.S. Forest Service, authorizing the destruction of an ancient inland rainforest without conducting an Environmental Impact Statement.
Embedded below is ‘Black Ram,’ a short film about the ancient forest that the U.S. Forest Service refers to as Unit 72 — deep in the Kootenai National Forest. Located in the heart of the Yaak Valley, this irreplaceable ancient forest would be destroyed by the Black Ram logging project.
‘Black Ram’ documentary:
This film was created by Rick Bass + Kier Atherton. Runtime: 9 minutes.
Photograph by Anthony South
Learn more about this treasured National Forest…
The Yaak Valley is located in northwestern Montana, deep in the Kootenai National Forest — a treasure trove of biodiversity.
After the previous administration issued an executive order to increase the amount of logging conducted on public lands by 40%, the U.S. Forest Service fast-tracked the Black Ram project in this remote National Forest.
The logging project was being advanced under the guise that it would help mitigate the risk of wildfires. But, in reality, the Black Ram project targeted what has been called a rare inland rainforest that has never been logged and contains large portions that have never burned in recorded history. Destroying this mature and old-growth section of the National Forest would actually increase fire risk in the Yaak Valley through increased desertification, or the drying out of the surrounding area.
The Yaak Valley is also home to threatened wildlife. It is one of only six grizzly bear recovery areas in the lower forty-eight states. The U.S. Forest Service admitted that the Black Ram project would “adversely affect” the endangered grizzly bear population in the Yaak Valley, which the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has identified as the “least resilient” grizzly population in North America. Currently, only 20 or so bears remain in the valley…
Please help us take the important next steps towards permanent protection!
To learn more about the political background and dire current situation, read climate activist Bill McKibben’s article, “On Climate, Biden’s Administration Needs to Combat Zombie Trumpism Quickly” here: The New Yorker article on the Yaak.