News & Updates
Suing the Montana DEQ for failing to investigate Clean Water Act violations.
December 2022
Cottonwood has filed a lawsuit against the Montana DEQ for failing to investigate the Big Sky Water and Sewer District’s leaking holding ponds. Cottonwood asked the DEQ to investigate for over one year before filing the lawsuit.
Catalyzing Civil and Criminal Investigations
December 2022
Cottonwood has catalyzed the civil and criminal divisions of the U.S. EPA to investigate the Big Sky Water and Sewer District for lying to a federal jury about the amount of treated sewage that is leaking from its holding ponds into the West Fork of the Gallatin River during a Clean Water Act trial.
Beginning to restore water quality in Big Sky
October 2022
Cottonwood settled a Clean Water Act lawsuit against Spanish Peaks, a private ski and golf resort in Big Sky. The consent decree requires Spanish Peaks to replace the torn holding pond liner of the treated sewage pond. Spanish Peaks also agreed to fund a Supplemental Environmental Project that will monitor and study nutrient pollution.
Moving Citizen Initiative Forward
March 2022
Cottonwood prevailed in a lawsuit in the Montana Supreme Court that approved ballot language for a Citizen Initiative to designate sections of the Gallatin and Madison Rivers as an Outstanding Resource Water. The designation will prevent the Montana DEQ from issuing any new permits to pollute sections of the Gallatin and Madison Rivers. Cottonwood will work in 2023 and 2024 to collect the necessary 31,000 signatures get the initiative on the 2024 ballot.
Protesting old growth logging
December 13, 2021
Cottonwood and other groups protested the Forest Service’s old growth logging in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Cottonwood is currently working in the Ninth Circuit to stop three old growth logging projects in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Learn more.
Prosecuting Clean Water Act violations by the Yellowstone Club.
December 9, 2021
Cottonwood filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit against the Yellowstone Club for discharging nitrogen pollution into the South Fork of the Gallatin River without a permit. The Yellowstone Club’s Rich Chandler said “credible” environmental groups like the Gallatin River Task Force support the Yellowstone Club. The media failed to report that Chandler sits on the Board of Directors of the Gallatin River Task Force, works for the Yellowstone Club, and sought a $1 million donation for the organization from the Yellowstone Club in 2017. Learn more about our litigation.
Montana’s Anti-Wolf Legislative Agenda
March 12, 2021
New anti-wolf and anti-wildlife bills have the potential to seriously disrupt Montana’s ecosystems, recreational opportunities, and economy. Read why Cottonwood opposes new legislation that allows the indiscriminate killing of wild wolves.
Opposing the Weakening of the ESA
Jan 13, 2021
The outgoing federal administration has proposed eliminating the requirement of the U.S. Forest Service to review their management plans with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when new science becomes available. These new regulations would remove the only protections that exist for threatened species like Canada Lynx.
Defending Treaty Rights and Restoring Bison
Sept 29, 2020
Cottonwood has filed a new objection on behalf of the Rocky Mountain Tribal Leadership Council, pushing the Forest Service to restore free-roaming bison on federal land in Montana and allow Tribal members to effectively exercise their Treaty rights.
The Fight to Return Bighorn Sheep to Bighorn Mountain.
Sept 14, 2020
In the coming months, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals will be reviewing Cottonwood's bighorn sheep case which aims to stop private, domestic sheep grazing on public land in the Gravelly Mountains. A permanent injunction would allow the public, bighorn sheep, grizzly bears, and other wildlife to use more than 40,000 acres of public land in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, and create a new precedent in U.S. law.
Protecting the Gallatin River
Aug 27, 2020
Unchecked wastewater pollution is causing an algae bloom that is threatening one of America's most iconic rivers. Cottonwood has filed two Clean Water Act lawsuits to clean up and permanently protect the Gallatin River.