For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Contacts:
John Robison, Public Lands & Wildlife Director, Idaho Conservation League, (208) 345-6933 x 213
Abby Urbanek, Communications & Marketing Manager, Idaho Conservation League, (208) 345-6933 x 214
Cynthia Wallesz, Executive Director, Golden Eagle Audubon Society, (208) 995-7400
Bryan Hurlbutt, Staff Attorney, Advocates for the West, (208) 342-7024 x 206
Roger Flynn, Director and Managing Attorney, Western Mining Action Project, (303) 823-5738
Idaho conservation groups challenge mine exploration in Boise River headwaters
The CuMo Mine Exploration Project in the Boise National Forest threatens water quality and a rare plant found only in Idaho.
BOISE, ID – Local conservation groups filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service today for its approval of a mine exploration project on public lands in the headwaters of the Boise River. The CuMo Mine Exploration Project threatens critical clean water, fish and wildlife habitat, and the rare plant Sacajawea’s bitterroot.
Despite overwhelming public opposition, the Forest Service in March approved the four-year plan by Idaho Copper Corporation to build nearly nine miles of new roads, clear 122 drill pads, and drill 250 bore holes across 2,617 acres of National Forest public lands adjacent to Grimes Creek, a tributary to Mores Creek and the Boise River.
Twice before, courts have struck down variations of the project due to the risks it posed to water quality and sensitive species. A federal court struck down the project in 2012 because the Forest Service failed to adequately assess the risks that extensive underground drilling could contaminate groundwater. The court struck it down again in 2016 because of the project’s threats to Sacajawea’s bitterroot.
“The Forest Service failed to follow the law yet again,” said Bryan Hurlbutt, Staff Attorney at Advocates for the West. “The agency is allowing the mining company to construct an extensive network of roads and drill pads on our public lands without protecting streams and rare plants.”
Through the project, Idaho Copper hopes to find sufficient copper and molybdenum to excavate one of the largest open-pit accessible molybdenum mines in the world. The exploration site is upstream of half of Idaho’s population, and the Boise River watershed provides approximately 30 percent of Boise’s drinking water supply and irrigates over 300,000 acres of farmland.
The Grimes Creek watershed and surrounding public lands are home to imperiled and sensitive species such as wolverines, bull trout, great gray owls, flammulated owls, goshawks, and the rare Sacajawea’s bitterroot — the largest known populations of which occur within the project site.
“The Boise River headwaters are unique in large part because of the area’s wildlife,” said Cynthia Wallesz, Executive Director of Golden Eagle Audubon Society. “This project poses a direct threat to sensitive birds, other wildlife, and plants — and the clean water on which they depend.”
Last year, the Forest Service received more than 1,200 public comments on the CuMo Mine Exploration Project’s draft environmental review, with over 99% of them opposed to the project.
“We’ve seen time and again what happens when mining projects are approved without adequate safeguards,” said John Robison, Public Lands & Wildlife Director with the Idaho Conservation League. “The Boise River headwaters are simply too important to gamble with. Clean water for families and farmers, unrivaled recreation opportunities, and habitat for wildlife should not take a backseat to poorly planned mining activity.”
“Given the recent federal layoffs and the recent prioritization of mining over all other activities, we are concerned about the Forest Service’s ability to adequately monitor and manage this project and keep the public informed,” Robison added.
Recent changes in ownership of Idaho Copper and financial struggles also have raised concerns about the project’s future management and environmental oversight, especially given recent staffing cuts impacting the Boise National Forest. Last year, Idaho Copper was forced into a transition in ownership through a sheriff’s sale, resulting in a Hong Kong-based investment company as the new majority shareholder.
The conservation groups are represented by Advocates for the West and Roger Flynn of the Western Mining Action Project.
B-roll footage of the project area can be found here, courtesy of EcoFlight.
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The Idaho Conservation League’s mission is to create a conservation community and pragmatic, enduring solutions that protect and restore the air you breathe, the water you drink, and the land and wildlife you love.
Golden Eagle Audubon is dedicated to building an understanding, appreciation, and respect for the natural world in order to conserve and restore natural ecosystems for birds and other wildlife.
Advocates for the West is a non-profit, public interest environmental law firm headquartered in Boise, Idaho, that works to defend public lands, water, fish, and wildlife throughout the American West.