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MTJP CORPS · MORE THAN JUST PARKS ·
A place we watch

Bear Lodge Rare Earth Project (Black Hills NF)

Timing

Nothing is open on this one today. It is a place the Corps keeps an eye on, so we see the paperwork the day it lands.

What is worth photographing here

Walk the small headwater springs and creeks in the Bear Lodge Mountains and photograph the water itself: clear or stained, running or dry, rocks on the bottom, any fish or animal tracks at the edge.

Why we watch it

An open-pit rare earth mine proposed in the Bear Lodge Mountains of the Black Hills National Forest in northeast Wyoming, a range of ponderosa pine and red rock northwest of Devils Tower. In July 2026 the Forest Service began an environmental impact statement for Rare Element Resources' mine plan of operations, which may require amending the forest plan to weaken visual-quality standards.

How to record it so it counts

  1. 01Photograph the source and its surroundings: the wet ground, the vegetation, any pipe, trough or diversion.
  2. 02Photograph the flow with something in the frame that shows it is moving, or note that it is standing.
  3. 03Photograph any use by wildlife or stock: tracks, trampling, a trough.
  4. 04Note the date and time; springs change with a season.
  5. 05Write one paragraph. If you’ve known this spring for years, say what you’ve seen it do.
What would count
  • Water in the frame on a dated photo where the document said dry.
  • The years you’ve known it, in your own words.
All of it, with the phone settings, in the field guide
Nothing to answer yet

Nobody is asking you to go here today. We watch this place so that the day a decision opens on it, the people who already know it hear the same week. If you are out here anyway, what you photograph now is worth more later than anything taken after the paperwork lands.

Before you go
  1. Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
  2. Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
  3. Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
  4. Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
  5. If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.