Tester statement Rat Creek timber sale decision

(U.S. SENATE) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement in response to a 9th Circuit Court decision halting the Rat Creek logging project in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest:

“Montana will create more jobs in our wood products industry when technicalities no longer stand in the way of a common sense timber sale.  This decision is exactly why Montana needs the Forest Jobs and Recreation Act.  My bill lays out clear requirements for the treatment of dead and dying forests and clear direction to courts to consider the short-term and long-term needs of the forest – and the communities that depend on them.  I’m not going to pretend the status quo is acceptable when Montana jobs are at stake, which is why I’m going to keep pushing my bipartisan bill forward.”

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals blocked the Rat Creek Salvage Project in response to another lawsuit by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Native Ecosystems Council.  U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy had previously allowed the sale.