Just north of Yellowstone National Park is a mountainous landscape rich with forests, meadows, and wildlife. Nestled next to the iconic Yellowstone River, these wild lands might as well be an extension of the park itself. However, the imminent threat of a prospective gold mine looms over the landscape.

Today, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) is unveiling an ambitious campaign to stop this mine and the potential of any future mines on the northern border — for good.

Imagine driving through the northern entrance of Yellowstone National Park and instead of an expansive landscape dotted with wildlife before you, seeing an industrial mine site full of heavy equipment and floodlights scarring the mountainside above. If this mine moves forward on Crevice Mountain, it will forever change the lands along the northern border of the world’s first national park. This region provides vital habitat for grizzly bears; is a critical migration corridor for elk, mule deer, and bighorn sheep; and is within one of the few designated places outside the park where Yellowstone bison can roam.

At GYC, we’re committed to working with all people to protect the lands, waters, and wildlife of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem from mining threats, now and in the future.

Camera traps show the many wildlife species that roam the area near the proposed mine site. Some of the animals seen include grizzly bears, mountain lions, elk, and black bears. (Photos © William Campbell)

To stop this proposed mine from becoming reality, GYC entered into an agreement with Crevice Mining Group, LLC, that opened a window of time to purchase the mineral rights, leases, and claims to 1,368 acres of land on Crevice Mountain. To pull it off, GYC must raise $6.25 million by October 1, 2023, and we are already more than halfway there. If we don’t meet the goal, Crevice Mining Group, LLC, will develop the gold mine on the northern border of Yellowstone National Park.

In addition to the agreement with the mining company, GYC is also working with willing landowners on Crevice Mountain to purchase more than 300 acres of private land in-holdings. The ultimate goal of this effort is to transfer ownership of these private lands to the Custer Gallatin National Forest, making them accessible to the public and permanently protecting them from future mining under the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, which was passed in 2019.

If you want to become a part of the legacy of stopping this mine, please consider a donation to the Greater Yellowstone Coalition today. As of May 10, 2023, we have $3,749,444 in hand and need to raise another $2,500,556. Help us protect habitat for Yellowstone’s remarkable wildlife, keep the Yellowstone River pristine, and safeguard the park’s northern border from mining, forever.

You can either make a gift online or by calling Director of Philanthropy Melissa Richey at (406) 586-1593. We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who has and will help support this campaign to extinguish the last real and significant mining threat on the border of Yellowstone National Park once and for all.

As always, Yellowstone is more valuable than gold.

—Scott Christensen, Executive Director