Environment & Climate
Federal judge halts logging project in Shawnee National Forest over Endangered Species Act violations
The U.S. Forest Service improperly approved a southern Illinois logging project before receiving a required biological assessment regarding endangered Indiana bats.
The short version
- U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ordered the suspension of a commercial logging project in southern Illinois' Shawnee National Forest.
- The ruling determined the U.S. Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act by authorizing the Pope County project in October 2024 before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized its biological opinion on endangered Indiana bats.
- About 40 of the project's 67 acres were thinned in August 2025 before work stopped, leaving the remaining acreage halted pending regulatory compliance.
Key facts
- U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ruled that the U.S. Forest Service violated the Endangered Species Act by approving a Shawnee National Forest logging project six weeks before receiving a final biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.[Associated Press]
- The 67-acre logging initiative in Pope County, Illinois, is situated in a habitat occupied by the endangered Indiana bat.[Associated Press]
- Environmental plaintiffs filed a lawsuit alleging the Forest Service omitted its own internal August 2024 assessment from the final approval memo, which had concluded the project would likely adversely affect the bats.[Associated Press]
- A commercial contractor completed thinning on roughly 40 acres across eight days in August 2025 before legal intervention halted operations, and work has remained suspended since.[Associated Press]
- The Fish and Wildlife Service advised prohibiting logging between April and October to protect roosting bats, a restriction the Forest Service omitted from its initial project authorization.[Associated Press]
What remains uncertain
- Whether the U.S. Forest Service will attempt to reauthorize and complete the remaining logging acreage under revised federal environmental regulations remains unconfirmed.[Associated Press]