Officials shouldn’t lean too hard on an appeals court decision as the reason to provide shelter for the homeless – as opposed to the moral, practical and ethical arguments in favor of sheltering human beings in need – because the ruling is not settled just yet.

Building a mine beneath Montana’s Cabinet Mountain Wilderness won’t imperil the region’s threatened grizzly bears, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. The San Francisco-based court said that the grizzlies will be protected through an extensive mitigation plan required by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The decision, which upholds a Montana judge’s earlier ruling, opens the door for the first development phase of the Rock Creek silver-copper mine to begin as early as 2013.