A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Forest Service to suspend a commercial logging project in southern Illinois’ Shawnee National Forest, ruling the agency violated the Endangered Species Act when it approved the project in 2024.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Rosenstengel ruled Monday that the Forest Service improperly approved the roughly 70-acre project in rural Pope County before receiving a final biological opinion from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
That opinion, completed about six weeks after the project was approved, identified the area as habitat for the federally endangered Indiana bat and recommended against logging between April and October, when the bats may be roosting in trees.
Environmental groups sued the Forest Service last year, arguing the agency already knew endangered bats had been detected in the project area before issuing its approval. An earlier Forest Service assessment had concluded the project was likely to adversely affect the bats even with required mitigation measures.
The Forest Service argued that no resources were committed to the project until after the Fish and Wildlife Service issued its final opinion and that the project’s approval would not have changed had the agency waited.
Rosenstengel rejected that argument and ordered the approval set aside.
Logging began in August 2025, with approximately 40 of the project’s 67 acres thinned before work stopped eight days later. The contractor has not returned to complete the project.
Indiana bats have been federally protected for decades and commonly spend warmer months roosting beneath the bark of large trees. Their population has declined significantly, in part because of white-nose syndrome.
The ruling comes as the Trump administration moves to loosen federal restrictions affecting logging and other development on public lands, including proposed changes involving road construction in national forests.