One of Montana's most beloved rivers is under threat and needs your help! 

Recently, we learned that an overseas mining company is seeking an exploration permit for a potential gold mine in the headwaters of the Blackfoot River. We're concerned and you should be, too.

The Blackfoot is one of Montana’s most beloved trout waters, home to native Westslope cutthroat trout and ESA-listed bull trout. Unfortunately, this proposed mine is located in the heart of designated critical bull trout habitat and Westslope cutthroat spawning grounds.

TU and our many partners, including landowners and the public, have invested decades of effort in restoring the Blackfoot watershed. Its fishery, river health, and working lands were severely impaired due to previous mining in the area, including $70 million in public funds spent to cleanup and perpetually treat acid mine drainage from the Mike Horse Mine that devastated the Blackfoot River not so long ago. This new threat is not hypothetical, we already know what happens when irresponsible mining projects proceed in the Blackfoot Valley.

Montana DEQ is currently seeking public comment on a draft Environmental Assessment (EA) for this proposed exploration project through April 13, and this is where your support is needed.

We believe DEQ should require Sentinel Metals to apply for a new exploration permit and not allow the company to amend the decades-old permit that Sentinel Metals purchased from a bankrupt company. The draft EA failed to analyze the effects that gold exploration would have on native fish and their habitat. DEQ’s EA also fails to acknowledge that over the past half century hundreds of millions of dollars, both private and public, have been invested in restoring the Blackfoot River from historic mining damage and recovering its native and wild fishery. 

We hope you'll take an opportunity to stand up for the Blackfoot, a river truly more precious than gold.