Colville Tribe Suing U.S. for Forest Failures in Large 2015 Fires

The Colville Tribes are suing the U.S. over large wildfires in 2015.

The tribes claim massive fires were the result of the federal government's failure to protect forests with operations such as prescribed burning.

The lawsuit says the North Star and Tunk Block fires burned more than 240,000 acres on the Colville Reservation and destroyed 800 million feet of their commercial timber.

The tribes are asking for damages in their lawsuit, but have not specified a dollar amount.

In a news release, the tribes contend the fires over a two month period destroyed about 20 percent of their commercial timber on the reservation, calling it " the largest loss of board feet of timber of any
fire event on any Indian reservation in recorded history."

The lawsuit was filed Wednesday.

It claims the U.S. failed to perform its duties of managing fuels and maintaining forest health, and failed to provide adequate firefighting resources for the Colville Reservation by prioritizing off-reservation forests.