Groups Challenge Trump Admin’s Rushed Approval of Cabinet Mountains Mining Project

Missoula, MT – A coalition of local and national organizations today filed suit over the Trump administration’s fast-tracked approval of the Libby Exploration Project in northwestern Montana’s Cabinet Mountains. The lawsuit claims that the Montanore Minerals Corporation project threatens unpolluted waters, including those in a federally-designated wilderness area, and species protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Trump administration approved the project in October without completing the required Environmental Impact Statement and wrongly concluded that the mine would not impact ESA-protected bull trout and grizzly bears.  

The lawsuit targets the U.S. Forest Service and U.S Fish and Wildlife Service for their inadequate environmental analysis of the Libby project. The project threatens to dewater Cabinet Mountains Wilderness surface waters. According to the U.S. Forest Service, waters in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness are rated among the top 5% in the lower 48 for purity. The project would also increase nutrient pollution entering a portion of Libby Creek designated as critical habitat for bull trout and develop significant infrastructure adjacent to and underneath the wilderness area.  

In irrationally concluding that the project would not harm threatened grizzly bears and bull trout in the area, the Forest Service also failed to use the best available science, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. The Libby project would fragment crucial grizzly bear habitat and increase road use, putting at risk an especially vulnerable Cabinet-Yaak grizzly population. The agency also failed to properly consider the impacts to Libby Creek’s bull trout from higher water temperatures from Montanore’s water treatment facility.  

Montanore’s parent company, Hecla Mining Co, has a history of violating environmental laws at its other mining operations – the Greens Creek Mine in Alaska and Lucky Friday Mine in Idaho. In its approval of the Libby project, the Forest Service failed to consider the company’s past violations.   

The Cabinet Mountains Wilderness and adjacent national forest lands are braided by high-elevation streams and harbor vital populations of bull trout, as well as Westslope cutthroat trout and other sensitive, coldwater fish that are facing increasing threats from climate change. The area supports one of the last five grizzly bear populations that persist in the lower 48 today.  

Earthjustice represents Cabinet Resource Group, Clark Fork Coalition, Earthworks, Montana Environmental Information Center, Save Our Cabinets, and the Yaak Valley Forest Council in the lawsuit.  

Quotes from Plaintiffs

“The Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, one of the first ten wilderness areas receiving protection under the 1964 Wilderness Act, is treasured by locals and visitors alike, and should not be exploited by mining companies for profit,” said Mary Costello, director of Save Our Cabinets.  “We are fighting to preserve the integrity of this special place for generations of people and wildlife to come.“

“Like many others, our organization has long fought to protect the outstanding water resources found in the Cabinet Mountains from degradation,” said Brian Chaffin, executive director of the Clark Fork Coalition. “Today’s action simply seeks to compel the Forest Service to comply with the law, and take a hard look at the environmental impacts of this proposed project on our streams and rivers.” 

“For more than forty years Cabinet Resource Group has been the ‘barking dog’ at a string of mining companies changing hats and CEOs, all just bad actors,” said Colleen Hinds, an original member of Cabinet Resource Group. “They leave a path of faults and degradation to the Earth with not so much as a look over their shoulder. Mining is never clean. The Cabinet Mountain Wilderness is definitely out-of-bounds for their trial & errors.”

“The Cabinet Mountains Wilderness is beloved by hikers and campers for its solitude, beauty and wildlife,” said Jared Naimark, western mining senior manager with Earthworks. “We stand firm in opposing the Libby Exploration project, the latest in a long line of misguided mining proposals that risk irreversible damage to this landscape and endangered species habitat.”

“This special place and its imperiled species should not be jeopardized with a mine – especially given the compliance history of Montanore’s parent company,” said Patton Dycus, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Northern Rockies Office. “The Forest Service had a legal obligation to complete a comprehensive environmental impact statement and protect threatened species in the region and it failed to do so. We will not allow the Trump administration to put at risk the lands, waters, and wildlife that make Montana special to enrich the mining industry.”

“It’s truly remarkable that we are seriously talking about issuing a permit for a mine that will intrude upon designated wilderness,” said Derf Johnson, deputy director of the Montana Environmental Information Center. “There are some places you just should not permit a mine, and this is one of them. Some of the cleanest waters in the lower 48, a refuge for endangered species such as grizzly bears and bull trout, and one of the first wilderness areas ever created. It’s just a terrible spot for opening a mine.”  

“Road density and illegal road use in the Cabinet-Yaak Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone are two of the biggest factors affecting grizzly bear habitat security and recovery in the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem,” said Chris Bachman, conservation director at the Yaak Valley Forest Council. “Unfortunately, when approving the Libby Mine project, the Forest Service has failed to account for illegal road use and increased road density caused by user-created roads, which fragment habitat and continue to hinder grizzly bear recovery.”

“The Libby Mine project raises significant concerns about its potential harm to bull trout populations and watershed health,” said Anthony South, interim executive director of the Yaak Valley Forest Council. “Habitat destruction, water contamination, and changes in water flow caused by mining operations will degrade the pristine wilderness conditions, which are essential for the survival of the already vulnerable bull trout. Such disruption threatens the watershed’s delicate balance, biodiversity, and the area’s long-term ecological integrity.”

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