Public Lands should serve the Public Good

The following list is just some of the work that we do everyday to ensure that our public lands are used for their highest and greatest good—as refuge for Wild Nature.

1. We are advocating for Roadless Wildlands

The Trump administration set it's sights on rescinding the 2001 Roadless Rule in September. We, and thousands of others, sounded the alarm on this affront to wild areas.

More than 625,000 comments were submitted in the absurdly short time frame (21 days, as opposed to several months for the creation of the rule). More than 99.2% of the comments supported keeping the rule, according to one source.

There are some roadless areas under direct threat, including portions of the Grizzly and Old-growth 8 (see below). Friends of the Clearwater advocates for preserving all remaining roadless areas as wilderness—and winning as strong a rule as possible until then!

2. We are fighting for grizzly bear habitat and old-growth forests in Idaho.

We filed a lawsuit to protect grizzly bear habitat and old growth areas on the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forests. Eight timber sales, primarily on the Nez Perce portion of the forest, pose significant risks for wildlife and habitat.

Grizzly Bears

These 8 timber sales would significantly harm recovering populations of grizzly bears in central Idaho, creating or opening 134 miles of roads and degrading habitat. Roads are the primary driver of grizzly bear mortality, largely because they increase opportunities for bear-human conflict.

The Bitterroot Ecosystem is called the "grizzly bear promised land" for its high-quality habitat. It needs to stay that way until the Great Bear is truly recovered.

Old-Growth

Likewise, old growth areas are not adequately protected from logging by these projects. That is what initially brought us to litigate the Hungry Ridge and End of the World timber sales (which are included in this litigation) in the first place, which we first won in court in 2022.

3. We are pressuring agencies to give full protections for wolverines.

With only about 300 remaining in the lower 48, wolverines are exceedingly rare. In December 2023, they won protections under the Endangered Species Act because of a lawsuit brought by FOC and allies.

Locally, we are supporting our allies in the Panhandle by filing a notice of intent against a proposal to significantly expand winter over snow use in important wolverine habitat in the Selkirks of North Idaho.

Nationally, the next step is ensuring that critical habitat is adequately protected. We continue to monitor the actions of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and are prepared to take necessary action to ensure that wolverines see timely protections.

4. We are standing up for wolves, the most persecuted carnivore in America.

Due to the huge liberalization and unethical wolf harvest in the northern Rockies, we asked and received a Federal District Court ruling in our favor and ordering the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its decision to not protect wolves under the Endangered Species Act. View article

Additionally, our efforts to reign in trapping of wolves in grizzly bear habitat was successful in 2024, leading to new regulations that have offered safety for the imperiled carnivore. We have continued that litigation in 2025.

5. We are challenging bad road policy over the divide.

FOC and allies filed a lawsuit in December 2024 challenging federal agencies’ plans to allow increased road building in the Bitterroot National Forest that would cause harm to grizzly bears and bull trout, both of which are listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

The lawsuit challenges the removal of Bitterroot Forest Plan Amendments that ensure road density standards. This litigation is a real team effort from Friends of the Bitterroot, Native Ecosystems Council, WildEarth Guardians, and Friends of the Clearwater.

6. We are keeping track of real conditions in the forest.

In 2025, we monitored 28 sites in the Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest to ensure no violations of Wilderness, road closures, road building, timber harvest rules or water protections.

We found numerous violations we will send to US Forest Service to address, and work with our allies to discuss other steps to solve these violations. With Trump's huge cuts to public land agencies in 2025, there will be even less on the ground monitoring form the Forest Service.

7. We are expanding our team.

We recently hired an Executive Director, Kyran Kunkel, and Office Manager, Krystal Starkey, to significantly ramp up FOC capacity.

8. We are creating awareness.

This year, we reached more people, including over 3,000 people online via our email list. We have had over 50 new donors this year and are close to the milestone of 500 current dues-paying members.

We are also getting back into events and community actions, including potlucks, letter-writing events, concerts, and more.

9. We are building forward.

We are building on nearly 40 years of results for the region, meeting the huge challenges of our era, and charting a new proactive course forward.

The FOC board unanimously approved our Big New Plan to protect the Wild Clearwater—more coming on that soon!

If you love native wildlife, consider a donation to Friends of the Clearwater to continue our work.