Local conservation groups express concern over Sheep Creek mine

by Michael Howell

Conservation groups are urging the U.S. Forest Service to disclose more information about a Canadian company’s mining exploration plans in Montana’s Bitterroot National Forest, set to begin this summer. The area is crucial to numerous species protected under the Endangered Species Act, including grizzly bears, bull trout, Canada lynx and wolverines.

Canadian-owned mining company U.S. Critical Materials holds 7 square miles of mining claims along the Sheep Creek and Johnson Creek drainages in the headwaters of the Bitterroot River, known for its scenic beauty, recreational opportunities and rich biodiversity. The company has said it would begin exploratory work this summer at 10 sites at its proposed Sheep Creek Mine, including constructing new roads, building drill pads and drilling 700-foot holes.

“The Forest Service needs to take a hard look at the irreversible damage mining near the headwaters of the Bitterroot River could do to this fragile ecosystem and the plants and animals that depend on it,” stated Kristine Akland, Northern Rockies director for the Center for Biological Diversity. “This is not a place to put a mine and we’ll do everything we can to block bulldozers from destroying this beautiful biodiversity hotspot.”

In its letter to the Forest Service, the groups say that despite plans to begin work in the coming months, U.S. Critical Materials has not submitted a required plan of operation to the Forest Service, raising concerns over transparency and public participation. Freedom of Information Act requests from the group to the U.S. Forest Service for records of contact with the company, submitted on March 11, 2023 and again on October 2, 2023, went unanswered until January 29, 2024. They claimed the lack of information made it difficult to determine the timelines for exploration and mining.

Concerns came to a head when the company recently stated on its website: “Permitting exploration activities for 2024 with government agencies is in progress and will be an evolving on-going process as different aspects of the program are initiated and as they expand in scope.”

But that website has since been taken down and both the Forest Service and Montana Department of Environmental Quality stated last week that no plan of operations or application for a license to do exploratory drilling have been received.

The website posting did present an outline of planned activity which included potentially gaining access to a third abandoned mining shaft that could increase the company’s understanding of carbonatite rare earth mineralization and host-rock structural geology in the area.

“Based on historic maps, mineralization in Adit #2 is more extensive than in Adits #1 and #3 and access underground could further add to the understanding and predictive geology of the mineral system. It may be possible to open Adit #2 by hand with pick and shovel. If this is not possible, clearing the portal of the caved adit will require mechanized equipment and be part of and timed with the Plan of Operations,” it stated on the website.

The company also claimed that reconnaissance stream sediment samples and soil samples suggest additional rare earth mineralization occurs beyond the boundaries of the current claim block and stated that “Increased competitor activity is anticipated for 2023 and these areas should be considered for acquisition. It is likely that claim staking will be an on-going activity throughout the 2024 field season as additional areas of mineralization are identified.”

The company stated that its plans also include re-opening old forest roads and constructing new access roads, as well as building drill-pads.

“Core drilling will be conducted from as many as ten sites with each site designed to accommodate multiple drill holes. Targets are selected based on grade of mineralization, strength of structure including continuity and width, as well as access requirements. First phase drilling will test a range of targets with follow-up drilling on the targets with the most favorable results. The drilling is designed to test the down-dip continuity of dikes and vein-form mineralization and the strategy will be to drill relatively shallow holes first to establish dips with deeper holes based on carbonatite intersections. Maximum depth penetration will be in the range of 500 to 700 feet. The number of drill sites and total drill footage is dependent on budget and timing of permits. It is anticipated that additional targets will be identified through further on the ground geologic work and by the airborne geophysical survey, and if timing permits, these targets could be incorporated into the 2024 drill program.” 

According to an article published last Friday, February 2 in the Daily Montanan, reporter Keila Szpaller wrote that Cowle, in a phone interview, said the company wants to drill as soon as the end of summer 2024, but he does not believe that target is realistic.

Cowle is quoted as saying, “We’re now ready to submit a plan of operation. And the plan of operation may say we want to put a road here or chop some trees down, and eventually, drill in about 12 locations, which we have to identify.”

It stated in the article that the company hopes to eventually engage in a joint venture with, or sale to, a mining company.

“It’s obviously a very sensitive thing,” Cowle is quoted as saying, “The Forest Service, I know the pressure they’re under from the residents, and we respect that. So we may not get approved at all.”

West Fork District Ranger Dan Pliley said last week that he was unaware of any plans for activity on the mining claims for the coming 2024 season but that once a plan of operations is received the agency will initiate a public process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) that could be approved as a “Categorical Exclusion” if it was determined that  there would be no significant impact to the environment. Or it may lead to an Environmental Assessment (EA) being conducted along with public notice and a chance for public involvement including a public meeting prior to any decision making. Depending upon the scope of the proposal and the significance of the potential impacts, the project could trigger a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) before any decision is made.

Officials at Montana Department of Environmental Quality said that it is common for mining companies to do some “exploratory drilling” prior to presenting an official plan of operation for mining. Submission of an application for a license to do ‘exploratory drilling’ does not trigger a public notice requirement and may proceed without direct public involvement or any public meetings. It does, however, under the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA), require the agency to conduct an Environmental Assessment of the project and, depending on the scope of the activity and any expressed public interest, potentially conducting a full-blown Environmental Impact Statement. To date, according to Mark Odegard a permitting specialist at the agency, no application for a license has yet been received.

Larry Campbell, conservation director for Friends of the Bitterroot and a retired exploration geologist, said that his organization joined with the Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians, and another 16 additional conservation and environmental organizations in the state to send a message to the Forest Service that this proposal is a big deal and urging the agency not to invoke a categorical exclusion for the project. They urged the agency to take a “good hard look” and conduct a full EIS, which he believes would make it perfectly clear that the proposal should be denied.

“Just the thought of an industrial scale mine on the Bitterroot River horrifies most Bitterrooters,” said Campbell. “A worse location would be hard to find. The Bitterroot fishing and irrigated agriculture economies are hugely important, sustainable, locally owned and dispersed across many local beneficiaries, unlike the proposed Canadian-owned Sheep Creek mine. The company would take the profits and leave us with economic and environmental losses. Now is the time to begin the long-haul battle to save the Bitterroot.”

In their letter, the groups say mining in the area could violate federal laws protecting wildlife, water, public lands and public participation, including the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. The letter also notes the potential harms from the project to wildlife, wilderness areas and recreation, and the economic blow to the local community.

The organizations note that the river is designated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as critical habitat for bull trout and is thus subject to Endangered Species Act (ESA) special consideration. They state in their letter that “The Forest Service must analyze the direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts to bull trout including impacts to the Bitterroot population as a whole and further must demonstrate compliance with all applicable state and federal standards that protect this species and its habitat.”

“The Sheep Creek Mine threatens a crucial waterway in the Bitterroot Valley and would be a disaster for the clean water and world-class trout habitat the valley’s economy depends on,” said Adam Rissien, rewilding manager with WildEarth Guardians. “We’ll fight to save the irreplaceable Bitterroot River from the damage and destruction that will undoubtedly result if the Sheep Creek Mine proceeds.”

Concern is also expressed over the potential impacts to Painted Rocks Reservoir, located a few miles below the mine site, stating, “Pollution of Painted Rocks would be a big risk to existing locally owned, proven- sustainable, fishing industry as well as local irrigated agriculture. Milltown dam, east of Missoula, demonstrated the unfortunate role of acting as a tailings impoundment for both decades-long chronic mining-derived water pollution as well as a backup for catastrophic pollution when the Mike Horse mine tailings dam failed. The values at risk at Painted Rocks deserve special consideration early in the planning process.”

“The Agency must analyze, and ensure protection against, the impacts the mine will have on all aspects of the Bitterroot River fisheries including economic values, water quality, impacts to agriculture, tourism, and habitat degradation and must further demonstrate compliance with all state and federal standards relating to these factors,” the letter states.

The company’s mining claims also include a wildlife linkage corridor along the Montana/ Idaho divide from the Lost Trail corridor hub to the east connecting to the River of No Return and Selway Bitterroot Wilderness areas to the west. This area, including the Allan Mountain Inventoried Roadless Area, is an important corridor for grizzly movement into a federally designated Bitterroot Ecosystem Recovery Zone.

The recovery of grizzly bears within the Bitterroot Ecosystem Recovery Area depends on functional connectivity between all other Recovery Zones including the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, and the Cabinet-Yaak and Selkirk Ecosystems. In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is currently considering plans to take a more active role in the recovery of grizzly bears in the Bitterroot.

“The proposed mine would undoubtedly impact the recovery of grizzly bears in the area. This connectivity corridor situation deserves special consideration early in the planning process, and must be seriously considered and protected when analyzing direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of this project,” states the letter. “Many other iconic species reside in or move through the proposed project area, including the ESA listed wolverine and Canada lynx, as well as species of conservation concern like Rocky Mountain sheep, elk, mountain goats, and Northern Rockies fisher. The value of this linkage corridor to biodiversity is vital to the survival and continued viability of these species. The potential damage from exploration roads and human activity, let alone from possible mining activities that would occur at this very valuable and vulnerable location, would be immense.”