Last week, a U.S. District Court sided with the U.S. Forest Service and Canadian mining company Excellon Resources in a ruling that allows Excellon to proceed with the five-year Kilgore Gold Exploration Project, greenlighting exploratory drilling that puts the wildlife, rural character, and water quality of the foothills of Idaho’s Centennial Mountains and all those downstream at serious risk.

This announcement comes over a year after GYC and our partners at the Idaho Conservation League (ICL), represented by Advocates for the West (Advocates), filed a lawsuit challenging the project’s impact on water quality and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. 

The Kilgore Gold Exploration Project site is located high in the foothills of the Centennial Mountains, just north of the small town of Kilgore, Idaho, and 40 miles west of Yellowstone National Park. The area – home to sensitive species such as grizzly bear, wolverine, lynx, Yellowstone cutthroat trout, Columbia spotted frog, and whitebark pine – lies at headwaters of the Snake River Aquifer and is the source of waters vital to downstream farms, ranches, and drinking water supplies.

The August 4 ruling means Excellon can officially begin a five-year exploratory drilling project. Exploratory drilling entails the construction of 130 drilling stations and 10.2 miles of new roads, and all the dust, sedimentation, and noise pollution that comes with operating drill pads 24 hours a day, seven days a week for five years. These activities will have undeniable impacts on Clark County residents, local farming and ranching operations, nearby hunting and fishing opportunities, neighboring wildlife refuges, and water quality both in the Snake River Aquifer and far downstream.  

Once exploratory drilling begins, a full-fledged mining operation is quick to follow. If Excellon determines that the underlying geology contains enough gold to make mining profitable in this area, they plan to build an open-pit, heap-leach cyanide mine – a gold extraction process so notorious for the damage it causes, that if the proposed mine site was located just 10 miles to the north across the Montana border, it would be illegal.  

While this ruling will allow Excellon to move forward with exploratory drilling, GYC and our partners are doubling down, looking for ways to hold the mining company accountable to the terms of their drilling permit and halt a potential mine. The Centennial Mountains, home to critical clean water and iconic wildlife, are no place for a mine. GYC will continue to work with Clark County residents, Idahoans, agency officials, and our conservation partners to keep Kilgore the way it is. 

This ruling comes four years after the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and our partners at ICL and Advocates first challenged the Forest Service’s initial approval of the Kilgore Gold Exploration Project in 2019. Project approval was subsequently thrown out by a federal court in May 2020 because the court agreed with our concerns over project impacts on water quality and Yellowstone cutthroat trout. After releasing a second Environmental Impact Statement in 2021, the Forest Service again approved the project despite overwhelming opposition from the public and ongoing water quality and fisheries concerns.

With the same concerns still not addressed, we took the Forest Service back to court in 2022, challenging the second approval, and have been working with the local communities to identify concerns and impacts. Although this is not the outcome we hoped for, GYC and our partners will continue to pursue all available legal and administrative means to protect this remote and remarkable corner of Greater Yellowstone from toxic, destructive gold mining. But we can’t do this alone – we are going to need your help.

Throughout GYC’s legacy of fighting mines, we’ve seen how your voices can be some of the most powerful tools in stopping mines. To speak up for clean water, wildlife, and the communities around Kilgore, join the Clean Kilgore Coalition. By joining the coalition, you’ll be notified when and how you can use your voice to advocate for this remarkable corner of the ecosystem. Cyanide has no place here. Together we can protect the vital habitat, clean water, recreation opportunities, and distinctive character this landscape offers.  

—Allison Michalski, Senior Idaho Conservation Associate