Michigan’s Silver Branch Logging Plan: A Risky Gamble with Endangered Species and National Forest Integrity

The US Forest Service is gearing up to clear-cut an area of Michigan’s Ottawa National Forest spanning roughly the size of Detroit—about 130 square miles—in a project dubbed Silver Branch Vegetation Management. While framed as ecological restoration and forest health maintenance, this sweeping plan risks devastating vital habitats for endangered species like the northern long-eared bat and Kirtland’s warbler.This isn’t just another forestry project. It embodies the ongoing tension between Washington bureaucrats’ multi-purpose national forest mandates and prudent conservation that protects America’s natural heritage. Why would the federal government approve large-scale clear-cutting that antagonizes environmental advocates while offering uncertain economic...