An environmental group is suing to stop a logging project in the Kootenai National Forest near Libby.
The Alliance for the Wild Rockies says in its federal lawsuit the project violates environmental laws and threatens lynx and grizzly bear habitat.
The East River Project calls for 8,845 acres of commercial logging, 5,563 acres of pre-commercial thinning and another 10,000 acres of burning or slashing.
Alliance Executive Director Mike Garrity calls it a massive clear-cut and logging project that would affect the forest and five tributaries of the Kootenai River and Lake Koocanusa.
Quinn Carver of the Kootenai Forest tells the Missoulian the project is the result of years of working with the community.
The Flathead Beacon reports the projected timber sale would be greater than the forest typically harvests in a year.