Stop Stillwater Mine's 40-year expansion on Custer Gallatin Forest
Stillwater Mine Complex Amendment 14 Environmental Impact Statement
U.S. Forest Service· Custer Gallatin National ForestU.S. Forest Service project page ↗
Forest ServiceWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.
The groups on this fight
4 groups work Montana
By footprint, from the same match the STAND matchmaker runs; none is linked to this decision in our record yet. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- American Prairie
Works Montana: defending its own bison herd, formally protesting BLM's revocation of grazing permits on 63,000 public-land acres.
- Defenders of Wildlife
Works Montana: named plaintiff in the Rock Creek Mine case, which turned on threatened grizzly bears and bull trout.
- Earthjustice
Works Montana: counsel in the long-running litigation against the Rock Creek and Montanore mines proposed beneath the wilderness.
- Western Watersheds Project
Works Montana: filed a protest against BLM's revocation of the bison grazing permits.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
A platinum mine wants to dig deeper and build bigger on national forest land for four more decades.
What’s at risk
Wildlife habitat and public land on the Custer Gallatin National Forest face decades of expanded surface industrial infrastructure. The mine is seeking approval to extend operations 36 to 42 years beyond their current footprint.
If this goes through
If approved, the expansion locks in industrial mining operations on this national forest for up to 42 more years, a commitment that is effectively permanent for this generation.
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
4 holes in the agency’s own analysis
What the public could have raised, from the agency’s own document
- I oppose this action as proposed, and I ask the agency to weigh the specific harms below.
- Oppose expanding surface infrastructure at the Stillwater Mine on the Custer Gallatin National Forest, which would lock in platinum group metals mining for up to 42 more years.
- The Forest Service must rigorously analyze in this EIS how an additional 36 to 42 years of mining operations will affect the Custer Gallatin National Forest before approving any expansion.
- I urge the Forest Service to reject Amendment 14 because committing public lands on the Custer Gallatin National Forest to decades more of industrial mining infrastructure is not in the public interest.
- Do not approve the Stillwater Mine expansion without fully weighing the long-term cost of growing surface infrastructure on the Custer Gallatin National Forest over a 36 to 42 year horizon.
Show all 6 points from the document
- Say something only you can say. The law requires the agency to consider and respond to substantive comments, and specifics are what make a comment substantive.
In the agency’s own words
The Stillwater Mine proposes to continue production of platinum group metals for an additional 36-42 years by expanding existing surface infrastructure. Please copy and paste this link in your browser to view project related documents: https://usfs-public.box.com/s/903zqyxu4qekivxq60544ts25n032qvt
The reporting behind this
From More Than Just ParksAnother foreign mining company wants a piece of America’s public lands. This one comes with millions of gallons of groundwater pumping and radioactive radon.
It’s referred to as Unit 346 in the Twin Mountain II Timber Sale. On the ground, it’s some of the most spectacular old growth we’ve ever witnessed, and it’s marked for clearcutting.
To document and do our part to save America’s greatest old growth forest
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