Today, the U.S. Forest Service released a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and Draft Record of Decision for the Stibnite Gold Project near Yellow Pine in Valley County, Idaho. This project is a planned open-pit cyanide vat leach gold mine in the headwaters of the East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River, adjacent to the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness Area. Proposed by mining company Perpetua Resources, this project would jeopardize our clean water, public health, fish and wildlife habitat, and public lands.
The Idaho Conservation League is deeply disappointed in this draft decision, which came after hundreds of Idahoans voiced concerns over the project’s potentially devastating impact to the things Idahoans hold dear: the clean air, clean water, wild rivers, wilderness, and public lands that make Idaho special.
While ICL will be diving deeper into the FEIS and draft Decision over the coming weeks, it is already apparent that the mine plan has not meaningfully changed to address the substantive concerns raised by ICL, partner organizations, the Nez Perce Tribe and the public. The plan still includes digging three massive open pits, doubling the size of existing disturbance, punching in a road through three roadless areas and along designated Wilderness, and filling Meadow Creek with toxic mine waste.
ICL remains deeply concerned about the impacts to water, fish, wildlife, and public health from this project. Idaho cannot afford to take chances with our precious resources like clean air and water. As clean water becomes more rare and precious in a hotter and drier climate, we must protect the life-giving water we already have, rather than allowing a high-risk project to generate millions of tons of toxic tailings in a critical watershed.
According to the FEIS Fisheries Specialist Report, stream flows in the East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River watershed will be reduced by up to 30% during operations, and the removal of riparian shading increases predicted stream temperatures by up to 11.88° F until restoration efforts effectively shade streams and reduces temperatures, “toward baseline conditions.” Further, the stream temperature conditions do not account for climate change, which the Forest Service predicts will add another 1.8°-3.6° F to streams already becoming too warm to provide the cold waters federally-listed as threatened Chinook salmon, steelhead, and bull trout require.
We know we shouldn’t—and can’t—take chances with precious resources like clean and cold water because we have the scars to prove it. Even with modern mining regulations, the mining industry is the number one source of pollution in the U.S. Idaho is no stranger to that pollution—there is a sad legacy of polluted streams, scarred landscapes, and harmed communities from mining projects gone wrong across the state. Allowing high risk mining projects like this to proceed in sensitive areas under the same policies that allowed previous pollution is a recipe for disaster. Responsible mining means that some types of mining are too high of a risk. What’s more, there is no end in sight with the Stibnite Gold Project. Exploration and new mine development could last for decades. And, even if Perpetua Resources did narrowly avoid new messes and clean up old ones, there is nothing preventing another mining company from tearing this landscape open again.
The South Fork Salmon River watershed and all it entails—from the elusive wolverines that live there, to the threatened salmon that swim and spawn in its waters, to the people that value this landscape—is one of the places that makes Idaho special. Places like this are what our way of life is based on. We live in Idaho so we are able to enjoy these lands and pass them down to future generations. The Stibnite Gold Project will essentially create a massive toxic landscape at the top of this watershed—if we let them.
The Idaho Conservation League isn’t willing to let that happen. We cannot risk special places like the South Fork Salmon River watershed. We believe that generations of fish and wildlife should continue to call this landscape home, and generations of Idahoans should be able to continue making memories there. Because once these places are gone, they are gone forever.
The Idaho Conservation League knows how to succeed in protecting Idaho’s environment, and has done so over the past 50 years, but we can only do it with your support. The draft Decision is subject to an administrative objections process, and our staff will be working hard to file an objection before the Forest Service’s 45-day deadline is up. Don’t let Idaho lose this special place to toxic mine waste—please help support our hardworking staff today by making a special gift to support our ongoing work to stop the Stibnite Gold Mine.
Idaho’s future is being set today—you can help ensure that Idaho’s way of life stays special, and future generations can enjoy the sights, sounds, and feeling of places like the South Fork Salmon River.