400,000 Acres of Important Canada Lynx Habitat Protected
June 6, 2012
On June 6, 2012, Cottonwood helped secure an important legal win for the threatened Canada lynx near Yellowstone National Park. A federal judge in Idaho ruled the Forest Service’s failure to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for a decision that ultimately opened up approximately 400,000 acres of previously protected land to precommercial timber thinning violated the Endangered Species Act and other laws. The decision also required the Forest Service to stop its operations on a 7,000 acre thinning project in eastern Idaho. The project was removing crucial hiding, denning, and foraging habitat for the threatened Canada lynx and their main prey, snowshoe hares.
The lynx population in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem is already more vulnerable than other Northern Rockies lynx populations. This project would have created additional stress to an already struggling population. Cottonwood is proud to have helped protect Lynx near Yellowstone National Park.
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