Comments closed September 14
Stop rare earth exploration at Sheep Creek in Bitterroot National Forest
U.S. Forest Service · Bitterroot National Forest, ID
- What
- US Critical Materials wants to explore for rare earth minerals in the Bitterroot's West Fork district.
- Where
- Bitterroot National Forest, ID, MT
- How much
- Sheep Creek and surrounding land in the West Fork Ranger District face potential disturbance from mineral exploration activity.
- Decided
- Comments closed September 14, 2026. No decision document is on file yet.Date from Forest Service comment page (CARA) ↗, read September 2, 2026.
Where these four lines come from
- WhatOur plain-English read of the Forest Service project page ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words under Case.
- WhereThe places and states the project page names, as PLAN read them.
- How muchThe first sentence of our What’s at risk read of the notice; the whole read is under Case.
- DecidedSeptember 14, 2026, from Forest Service comment page (CARA), its “comments are requested through” date ↗. Read September 2, 2026. The decision document is the one on file in PLAN’s record.
- Read from PLAN’s record November 9, 2026.
What the proposal said, and what the decision did
No figure from the proposal has been checked against the decision on this fight yet. What the record does hold is the issues ledger below.
No decision document is on PLAN’s record for this fight yet. When the agency’s decision lands, what it answered goes here.
PLAN's read: high threat
US Critical Materials wants to explore for rare earth minerals in the Bitterroot's West Fork district.
What’s at risk
If this goes through
Our plain-English read of the official notice ↗. Check it against the agency’s own words below.
The agency’s own analysis
What the notice says, and what it leaves out
The window has closed; the record of what was missing stays.
The agency says
“The Forest is working with USCM to gather additional information needed prior to moving into environmental analysis.”
The notice acknowledges that the Forest is still 'working with USCM to gather additional information needed prior to moving into environmental analysis,' yet the project summary already lists a specific CE pathway.
The agency says
“The Bitterroot National Forest received a draft initial plan of operations for the Sheep Creek Project from US Critical Materials (USCM).”
The notice names US Critical Materials (USCM) as the proponent and states a draft initial plan of operations was received, but that document is not linked or described in the notice.
The agency says
“The Bitterroot National Forest received a draft initial plan of operations for the Sheep Creek Project from US Critical Materials (USCM).”
The notice contains no mention of Tribal consultation, despite the project being located on the Bitterroot National Forest in an area with documented cultural and treaty significance to the Salish and Kootenai peoples and other tribes with historic ties to the region.
In the agency’s own words
The Bitterroot National Forest received a draft initial plan of operations for the Sheep Creek Project from US Critical Materials (USCM). The Forest is working with USCM to gather additional information needed prior to moving into environmental analysis.
The groups on this fight
4 groups predicted likely to care in Idaho and Montana
Predicted likely to care is a guess from the group's sourced work in Idaho and Montana, with no link to this decision. Give straight to them; nothing routes through us.
- American Prairie
Predicted likely to care · a guess
American Prairie, Montana: Defending its own bison herd, formally protesting BLM's revocation of grazing permits on 63,000 public-land acres.
- Earthjustice
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, Montana: Counsel in the long-running litigation against the Rock Creek and Montanore mines proposed beneath the wilderness.
- Idaho Conservation League
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Craters of the Moon National Monument, Idaho: Mobilized Idahoans to file Interior Department comments defending Craters of the Moon during the 2017 national monument review, arguing shrinkage would damage the economies of Blaine, Butte, Minidoka, and Power counties.
- Western Watersheds Project
Predicted likely to care · a guess
Bruneau-Jarbidge Rivers, Idaho: Challenging BLM's grazing management across 1.4 million acres of the Jarbidge and Bruneau river canyonlands, where it won an injunction blocking ranchers from grazing beyond their permit limits.
Every group above is on STAND for Public Lands, with its court record, its filings and who backs it.
Who signs it
The notice names no signer PLAN could read. PLAN names a decision-maker only when the document names one.
The ground
The window has closed, so there’s no watch to set on it here.
The photograph on this page: An unpaved national forest road climbing through autumn aspens. It’s the country this decision sits in, not the site itself. More Than Just Parks.
In court on this ground
No court case we track is over Bitterroot National Forest.
Who holds the vote
PLAN’s record doesn’t tie a member of Congress to this fight yet. The scorecard grades the votes and bills that decide public lands; nothing joins a vote or a bill to this decision, so there’s no member to name here without guessing.
See how your members vote ↗Forest ServiceWe track this on the agency’s own system of record, where most on-the-ground decisions live.
Know an open comment period we are missing, or spotted a wrong deadline? .
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