Idaho Rivers United has filed an amended complaint in its lawsuit against the U.S. Forest Service over megaloads in the wild and scenic river corridors of the Lochsa and Middle Fork Clearwater along U.S. Highway 12; now, in addition to the Forest Service, the group is suing the Federal Highway Administration. The federal lawsuit charges that both agencies violated the federal Wild & Scenic Rivers Act by allowing ITD to issue permits for hundreds of megaload transports along the route.

“These rivers represent the embodiment of what the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act was meant to protect,”  said IRU Conservation Director Kevin Lewis. “The industrialization of this river corridor clearly violates the desires of Idaho’s late Sen. Frank Church, who authored the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. It also violates the will of Congress and the American people, who have overwhelmingly supported the protection of these two treasured rivers.” You can read the group's full announcement here, and its amended complaint here.