USFS eyes emergency logging for 5 million acres in Idaho, Montana

The U.S. Forest Service published an eight-page emergency plan that it says addresses catastrophic wind damage done to federal forest land after two weather emergencies, but environmental watchdog groups say it’s rushed and could result in millions of acres being used for commercial logging with an almost impossibly short public comment period.

The project’s scoping document doesn’t disclose which parcels of federal forest land will be logged and treated as part of the emergency plans, but a table shows it could involve more than 5 million acres spanning across Montana and Idaho’s Panhandle.

The notice, issued by the USFS Northern Regional office in Missoula, said the “emergency salvage” effort is a response to the straight-line and high wind events in December 2025 and April 2026. The Forest Service said the windstorms created large patches of overturned or “downed” trees.

“Wind-felled and damaged trees of conifer species native to the Northern Rockies are highly susceptible breeding material for associated native bark beetles, including pine engraver beetles, spruce beetle, Douglas-fir beetle and potentially fir engraver and several species of wood boring insects,” the documents said.

The report also said several years of drought conditions have stressed trees throughout the two states, making them more susceptible to insects. 

“The recoverable value of downed and damaged trees decreases with time,” the Forest Service said.

The announcement, which was released Monday, is only allowing public comment through June 29 — one week. 

USFS officials say that laws addressing emergency conditions allow the government to begin the project before an environmental assessment takes place and before a finding of “no significant impact” is given. 

“This project will not be subject to the pre-decisional objection review process,” it said. 

The Forest Service said the emergency orders also allow it to build new temporary roads or conduct road maintenance on existing roads for the timber haul. No clearing actions can happen on land designated “wilderness,” though.

It said the removal project will likely last from three to five years. 

“This is exactly the kind of environmental plundering we feared when the Trump administration started dismantling our national bedrock environmental laws,” said Kristine Akland, the Northern Rockies director and a senior attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Forest Service has manufactured an emergency to justify logging 5 million acres, putting endangered wildlife and land that belongs to every American at risk. It’s incredibly sad how eager the administration is to bulldoze our national heritage.”

Here are the regions identified by the U.S. Forest Service:

Here are the counties in Montana that will be a part of this plan: Lincoln, Flathead, Sanders, Mineral, Missoula, Ravalli and Powell counties.

In Idaho, the counties will be: Boundary, Bonner, Kootenai, Benewah, Shoshone, Latah, Idaho and Clearwater.

This story was originally produced by Daily Montanan, which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network which includes Idaho Capital Sun, and is supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.