Confronting Irresponsible Mines
There’s no place on earth like the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. The unique geological forces that created Yellowstone’s landscape also formed pockets of ore that draw the attention of mining companies looking to extract it for profit. Destructive mining operations displace wildlife, threaten the health of rivers, leave permanent scars on the land, and remove public land access for locals and visitors.
As long as gold remains an option to mine in Greater Yellowstone, this region will continue to draw mining companies looking to make a quick buck at the expense of one of the most spectacular parts of the world. We’ve been saying for decades that Yellowstone is more valuable than gold.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition is an experienced, successful organization when it comes to stopping risky mines. Our mine-fighting work is us at our most dogged, creative, and committed.
Our Mine-Fighting News
How the Greater Yellowstone Coalition Confronts Irresponsible Mining Threats
TAs the grizzly bear population continues to grow, move, and thrive in the ecosystem, bears are met with an abundance of challenges. The rapid growth of people and development in grizzly bear habitat make it difficult for bears to move without conflict. Grizzlies are drawn to food people eat and can become food-conditioned, often leading to an early death. Bears can prey on cattle and other livestock, which reduces tolerance for them in our communities. Roads and other developments bisect large areas of crucial grizzly habitat, creating an unnatural barrier. Often, policies created to manage grizzly bears are driven by political whims at any given time instead of by science.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition’s work to sustain a thriving grizzly bear population works creatively in each of these challenging areas.
Stopping the Kilgore Gold Exploration Project
Just 60 miles west of Yellowstone in a small Idaho town, a financially unstable foreign mining company is attempting to build an open-pit, heap-leach, cyanide gold mine—a type of mine that voters in Montana banned because it’s so dangerous. This mine would scar the landscape, poison Idaho’s irrigation and drinking water, hurt wildlife habitat and migration corridors, and threaten Idaho’s way of life. With the Clean Kilgore Coalition of partners, GYC is committed to protecting this remote corner of the ecosystem and killing the mine.
GYC is working to build a strong base of grassroots advocates in Idaho and exploring options for a mineral withdrawal in Kilgore. To stay informed of opportunities to take action, join our community of online advocates.
Our Wins and Progress for Halting Risky Mines
In 2023, GYC entered into an agreement to purchase the mineral rights, leases, and claims to 1,598 acres of land from the Crevice Mining Group, LLC. The land, situated on the Yellowstone River just a stone’s throw north of Yellowstone National Park, contains crucial habitat for grizzly bears, elk, and more. With the success of this campaign, we extinguished once and for all the last real and significant mining threat that remained on the border of Yellowstone.
When a gold mine was proposed in Montana’s Paradise Valley, GYC and partners built up local opposition and engaged Montana’s Congressmen to help stop the mine. The opposition to the mine was so widespread and unanimous that two Secretaries of the Interior enacted mineral withdrawals to buy time for a permanent solution. In 2019, the passage of the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, introduced by Montana Senator Jon Tester, forever protected more than 30,000 acres of public land from mining.
GYC established itself as a powerful and successful mine fighter in 1996 by stopping the New World Mine. A Canadian company’s bid to mine gold near the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park was rebuffed by tireless grassroots efforts led by GYC and its partners. President Bill Clinton soon effected a moratorium on mining claims in the area and eventually a settlement was reached that bought out the mining company and transferred the land to the U.S. Forest Service.
Learn About the Kilgore Gold Exploration Project with GYC’s Tom Hallberg
