BOZEMAN, Mont.- The auction of the controversial Limestone West timber sale will take place on March 5th despite the project’s opponents efforts to halt the sale because they believe it would harm wildlife habitat.
Save Our Gallatin Front filed a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction near the end of January to stop the auction of timber in the Limestone West area, south of Bozeman between Mt. Ellis and Triple Tree Trail. Since then, the SOGF group appeared in a hearing on February 19th for the injunction, which has been denied by Gallatin County District Judge Rienne H. McElyea.
Now that the lawsuit has been dismissed, the conservation group will have to outbid timber companies in order to keep the trees standing on the 443 acres.
SOGF, made of people from all around the Gallatin Valley, argue that the land should not be logged because it is the last piece of wild, undisturbed forest land that reaches all the way from the Gallatin Valley to the Yellowstone National Park.
However, the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation argues that the trees in the area are dying due to pine beetle infestation.
