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Speak up to stop Sheep Creek Mine

June 3, 2026 by Guest Post Leave a Comment

by Mark Van Loon, Hamilton

The time is NOW to make your voice heard. Our vocal public opposition caused USCM to withdraw their Plan of Operation earlier this year. But they’re not going away. Here’s what’s happening.

The White House has established a rather murky FAST 41 Permitting Council to oversee the FAST 41 program. They are pressuring Gov. Gianforte and Montana DEQ (Dep’t. of Environmental Quality) to sign onto a MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) that would “align” the state with the federal government. In the simplest of terms, this means that WE don’t have a voice anymore and also that Montana loses its rights of state sovereignty. Please don’t let this happen.

What you can do, and time is of the essence here, is to very firmly tell DEQ and the Governor NOT to cave to White House pressure. This move by the Permitting Council will be sold as ‘backing the Trump agenda’. It is actually eliminating your voice in your future and Montana’s States Rights. So far DEQ is holding firm but we’re not hearing much from Gov. Gianforte. Don’t let the Gov. “sell us down the river”. Literally. Tell them not to sign the MOU. Contact:

Gov. Greg Gianforte: (406) 444-3111, 855-318-1330; email: governor@mt.gov; P.O. Box 200801, Helena, MT 59620-0801

DEQ Headquarters: 2401 Colonial Dr., Helena MT 59601, (406) 444-2544

Director Sonja Nowakowski: sonja.nowakowski@mt.gov, (406) 444-0496

Dep. Dir. James Fehr: james.fehr@mt.gov, (406) 444-7423.

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