Who’s defending Bitterroot?
20 groups have it in their care
National forest in Montana, 1.6M acres, managed by the U.S. Forest Service, designated in 1897.
The defenders
The groups doing the most work here
2 groups are on the record for Bitterroot, in the order they carry the weight. The range says how strongly our editors, the court dockets and their own filings tie each one here. Give directly; nothing routes through us.
Friends Group · Hamilton, MT
Selway-Bitterroot Frank Church Foundation
Named for Bitterroot
Founded 2005
18 more groups also work this ground
On the ground in Montana
More ways in
The situation
What’s happening to Bitterroot
Steep mountain walls rise from the Bitterroot River to the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness, where the northern Rockies begin in earnest. Post-fire salvage logging proposals treat wildfire as an excuse to clearcut. Now a Salt Lake City company wants to tunnel into Sheep Creek, a Bitterroot River headwater near Darby, to extract rare earth elements. Over 650 Ravalli County residents packed a commission meeting to oppose the mine. The Forest Service rescinded the initial plan on March 27, but the company is expected to submit a scaled-back proposal.
- 1897Established as forest reserve
- 2025Salvage logging proposals advance after recent fires
- 2025US Critical Materials submits rare earth mining plan for Sheep Creek
- 2026Forest Service rescinds initial mining plan after public opposition
Source: Bitterroot Star · March 27, 2026
Source: USFS · January 15, 2025
No public comment window is open on Bitterroot right now. A call script is ready on the Public Lands Action Network, and the groups above are how the fight gets funded and argued in the meantime.
In the courts
The cases over this place
The dockets we track that name Bitterroot directly. Active first.
Your move
How to stand for Bitterroot
Straight to their own donation page. Your dollar never passes through us.
Their donation page ↗SpeakCall your representativesA ready call script on Bitterroot, plus any comment window as it opens.
Public Lands Action NetworkFollowWatch the mapEvery threatened place in the country, tracked, with who stands for each.
Threatened Lands MapBitterroot has defenders. It needs more.
The work is theirs. The backing is yours.