A federal judge restored prior limits on road densities in the Bitterroot National Forest and is requiring federal agencies to evaluate the impacts of roads on grizzly bears, bull trout and their habitats.

In an order last month, U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen found Friends of the Bitterroot was correct in alleging part of a forest plan amendment eliminated restrictions on roads and motorized access in violation of federal laws.

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Friends of the Bitterroot, Friends of the Clearwater, Native Ecosystems Council, and WildEarth Guardians filed the lawsuit in December 2024.

They filed the complaint against then-Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland, now Doug Burgum, and the heads of the U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bitterroot National Forest.

This month, the judge returned the problematic part of the amendment to the agencies so that they follow the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

The decision mirrors a federal judge's earlier ruling that struck down a logging project near Yellowstone, showing courts are increasingly scrutinizing how agencies handle environmental reviews for public lands.

“This court found that the agencies failed to adequately consider, or consider at all, the amendment’s impacts on grizzly bear and bull trout, which are both directly adversely affected by open roads,” the order says. “The errors are therefore significant. And defendants do little to assuage these concerns.”

In an email, Earthjustice, which represented the plaintiffs, said the order will “prevent new roadbuilding in the Bitterroot in the short term and ensure that the agencies consider the best available science moving forward.”

In a statement, Earthjustice associate attorney Maxine Sugarman said the Trump administration should be working to protect iconic species and their ecosystems, not sacrificing them for roads and motorized use.

“At a time when the Endangered Species Act and the wildlife it helps to protect are under constant attack by this administration, this is a welcome decision that will prevent harmful new roadbuilding in Bitterroot National Forest,” Sugarman said in a statement. “Our environmental laws exist to give species like grizzly bears and bull trout a fighting chance at survival as pressures from industry mount.”