Out-of-state miners want to dig up a pristine Montana paradise, and locals are ready to throw hands (or at least some very angry fly-fishing lures).
An out-of-state outfit called US Critical Materials (USCM) wants to plop an 11.3-square-mile rare-earth mine right at the headwaters of the West Fork Bitterroot River—a legendary trout playground. Field and Stream reports that they claim they are going to invent a totally new, untested underground mining style and then haul the loot away in ten massive 45-foot dump trucks a day, five days a week, down a narrow two-lane road.
Unsurprisingly, the locals are not thrilled about turning their peaceful fishing paradise into a bustling highway for heavy machinery. As local outfitter Jenny West points out, the noisy trucks will be right in your ear: “The road winds so close to river in places… You’ll be able to hear those trucks constantly while you’re fishing.” Even worse than the noise is the threat of an ecological disaster. West adds: “I can’t imagine fishing toxic water. It would just be devastating.”
It’s Not Just About the Fish: This isn’t just a nightmare for anglers chasing blue-ribbon trout; it’s also a major headache for hunters. The proposed mining claims sit smack dab in the middle of premier big-game hunting grounds for elk, moose, and mule deer. Matt Cashell, VP of the Ravalli County Fish & Wildlife Association, notes that the environmental damage won’t stop at the property line: “The risks of this mine go well beyond the West Fork River. It will impact everything downstream. The tentacles that come out of this go everywhere.”
The kicker, Cashell points out, is that Montana already has a toxic, heavy-metal-filled puddle in Butte called the Berkeley Pit that contains the exact same elements USCM wants to dig up here. As Cashell puts it: “The idea of mining in this pristine area that’s so beloved by so many outdoors people and recreators, when we have a viable alternative like with much less margin for risk, it doesn’t make sense.”
While local county commissioners are unanimously anti-mine, the local community feels like they are getting the silent treatment from their bigger political representatives. Meanwhile, the mine’s footprint looms large. According to Alex Ocañas of the Bitterroot Water Partnership, “Community opposition to the Sheep Creek mining proposal has only grown louder since then.” But despite the uproar, the mining company is full steam ahead—they just released a revised plan with the U.S. Forest Service and are already setting up shop in the nearby town of Darby. The battle for the Bitterroot is officially on.
You can read Travis Hall’s full article via Field and Stream here.
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