The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation filed a brief in support of the U.S. Forest Service and a number of other collaborators in countering a lawsuit filed by two environmental groups seeking to stop habitat stewardship work in the Elkhorn Mountains of west-central Montana. The Johnny Crow Project is designed to use prescribed burning and remove encroaching conifers into grasslands in an effort to promote forage and enhance wildlife habitat.
“This project is solely focused on creating healthy and resilient forest conditions for wildlife habitat,” Bill Avey, Helena National Forest supervisor, told the Helena Independent Record in 2017. “It was developed at the request of and using collaborative input from our partners, who helped us design much of the project. It’s disappointing that these two groups, who didn’t participate in the collaborative process, are now litigating to stop this project from being implemented.”
RMEF maintains that active forest management benefits elk and a variety of other species as well as overall forest health.
(Photo source: U.S. Department of Agriculture)