The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday ruled in the Gallatin National Forest's favor in a lawsuit intended to stop a 180-acre tree-thinning project in the Crazy Mountains, forest officials announced Thursday.

The Alliance for the Wild Rockies and Native Ecosystems Council filed suit against the proposed Big Timber Canyon Vegetation Treatment Project in 2008, two years after it was first proposed, according to Andi Falsetto, public affairs specialist for the Custer and Gallatin national forests.

The project site is 20 miles northwest of Big Timber, on the eastern slopes of the Crazy Mountains. The plan calls for thinning "densely stocked stands of Douglas fir to increase the health and vigor of the remaining trees and make them less susceptible to future bark beetle attacks," Falsetto said.

The court found in Gallatin's favor on all points, upholding the forest's "analysis and determination" on the northern goshawk, proximity to an inventoried roadless area and forest plan rules for old growth and snags.

"With this affirmation now in place," Falsetto said, the U.S. Forest Service will determine the best time to start work.

For more information, call the Yellowstone Ranger District's Big Timber office at 932-5155, or visit www.fs.fed.us/r1/gallatin/?page=projects/big_timber_canyon.

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