Arrowstone Park
Background Arrowstone Park, located in the Upper Clark Fork River sub-basin in Deer Lodge, MT, was…
Our Work
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Blue Copper Mining ProjectBackground The project spans a 10,816-acre footprint across Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest (USFS) and BLM lands in Powell and Lewis and Clark Counties. Falcon Copper proposes up to 127 drill pads, up to 5 drill rigs operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and approximately 41… -
Columbia Gold Mine Exploration ProjectBackground With prices of gold at an all-time high, many mining projects that were previously shelved are receiving renewed interest. This includes a potential gold mine project that could present a very real threat to the Blackfoot watershed. Great Plains Mining LLC (“GPM” -a subsidiary of Australian-based Sentinel Metals) purchased land… -
Sheep Creek Mine ProposalBackground We’ve been tracking the proposed Sheep Creek Mine project – located in the headwaters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River — since its inception, and we were among the roughly 500 concerned citizens and conservation groups that joined an emergency hearing in front of the Ravalli County Commissioners in… -
Exempt WellsBackground In 1973, the Montana Legislature passed the Water Use Act, which created a process for permitting new water rights. To reduce permitting burdens on small, individual users, it exempted groundwater use for “domestic, agricultural, or livestock purposes.” This meant applicants did not have to prove that the water… -
Mike Horse Mine CleanupIn the 1940s, miners used metals-laced tailings to build the Mike Horse Dam at the origins of the Blackfoot River on Beartrap Creek near the Continental Divide. In 1975, the tailings dam blew out, dumping deadly levels of lead, copper and zinc into the Blackfoot. The mine’s corporate owner, ASARCO,… -
Protecting Selenium Standards in Lake KoocanusaBackground: Lake Koocanusa is a long, narrow 90-mile reservoir created by the Libby Dam in Northwestern Montana. It’s headwaters and mountainous shoreline reach across the border into British Columbia, Canada where the Kootenay, Bull, and Elk rivers feed into the lake. Id. The reservoir’s snow-fed waters support diverse aquatic species, including… -
Cleaning up the Smurfit-Stone Mill Site near Frenchtown, MTThe Smurfit-Stone pulp mill operated on the banks of the Clark Fork River near Frenchtown from 1957 to 2010, discharging enormous amounts of wastewater into the river. More than a decade after the mill closed, the 3,200-acre industrial site is still leaching harmful chemicals into the river and our… -
Cabinet Mountains Mining ProjectsBackground The Cabinet Mountains Wilderness provides refuge for native fish and wildlife and its streams flow with some of the purest waters in the lower 48. The Cabinet Mountains also potentially contain significant deposits of copper and silver. For decades, CFC has worked with partner groups and Tribal governments to ensure that proposed… -
Milltown Dam RemovalFor 100 years, Milltown Dam blocked the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers near Missoula, trapping toxic sediments that washed down from mines in Butte and contaminating local drinking water…