Submit Your Public Comment to Stop the Sheep Creek Mine

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Submit your public comment to tell Montana decisionmakers (Bitterroot National Forest Supervisor Matt Anderson and Ranger Dan Pliley) that destructive mine exploration activities at the headwaters of the Bitterroot River shouldn't move forward without thorough environmental assessment! Feel free to lean on our suggested text or completely overwrite it. Either way, we encourage you to add your particular concerns. We have until September 13th to push the Forest Service for an environmental assessment.

Canadian company “USCM” is proposing the exploration of a rare earth element deposit at the headwaters of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. In November 2025, the federal government listed the Sheep Creek project on the Federal "Fast 41" list, indicating that this project could get pushed along without normal environmental review processes. This is an issue of enormous local concern, and a mine in this area could very likely result in radioactive, toxic waste polluting the Painted Rocks Reservoir a couple miles downstream, along with the Bitterroot and Clark Fork Rivers.

However, due to public outcry, the Forest Service reversed course and opened an abbreviated 30-day public comment period on the mine exploration permit starting on August 14th, even though the proposed project remains on the “Fast 41” list. Now we need to focus on making sure the Forest Service requires USCM to conduct an Environmental Assessment (EA), rather than issuing a Categorical Exclusion (CE) and letting the company off the hook. Click here to view the comments already submitted by the Sierra Club and Friends of the Bitterroot. You can learn more from our fact sheet about the proposal here. See Don't Pollute the Root's tips on submitting a public comment here.

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Dear Forest Supervisor Matt Anderson and Ranger Dan Pliley,

Thank you for the opportunity to submit a public comment. It is not acceptable to give USCM the go-ahead to commence exploratory activities or mining without completing an Environmental Assessment. I’m writing to ask that the Bitterroot Forest Service requires this essential step.

The proposed Sheep Creek mining project is expected to have adverse impacts to water quality and quantity in both the Bitterroot Valley and the Clark Fork River Valley downstream. Moreover, water is at a premium in the Bitterroot, and the available water should be reserved for human consumption, wildlife, fisheries and agricultural uses. Basin closures due to limited water quantity are already impacting the local community, and further harm to the watershed is likely to cause severe economic and ecological disruptions.

Adverse impacts to wildlife are also anticipated. This project threatens critical habitat of sensitive, threatened, and endangered species, such as wolverines and grizzly bears, as well as direct mortality. Sheep Creek is in the heart of the grizzly bear recovery area, and mining exploration and mining activities would create more bear-human conflicts. With climate change, wolverine habitat is already shrinking. Protecting high altitude wolverine habitat (like the habitat that currently exists in Sheep Creek) is key to their future denning success and long-term survival.

It is also likely that mining in the high elevation Sheep Creek Basin will release toxic chemicals into the environment, some of which may be virtually impossible to remediate. In particular, a geologic sub-surface assessment is necessary to document the absence or presence of naturally occurring asbestos constituents and radioactive materials at the Sheep Creek site.  Legacy mining impacts can be seen all over Montana, and should not be permitted in this fragile ecosystem.

The issuance of a Categorical Exclusion (CE) by the Forest Service enables USCM to avoid the submission of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and is contrary to the public interest and the protection of the environment.  Please require USCM to submit a full EA, with an associated public comment period.

Thank you for your consideration.

Dear Forest Supervisor Matt Anderson and Ranger Dan Pliley, Thank you for the opportunity to submit a public comment. It is not acceptable to give USCM the go-ahead to commence exploratory activities or mining without completing an Environmental Assessment. I’m writing to ask that the Bitterroot Forest Service requires this essential step. The proposed Sheep Creek mining project is expected to have adverse impacts to water quality and quantity in both the Bitterroot Valley and the Clark Fork River Valley downstream. Moreover, water is at a premium in the Bitterroot, and the available water should be reserved for human consumption, wildlife, fisheries and agricultural uses. Basin closures due to limited water quantity are already impacting the local community, and further harm to the watershed is likely to cause severe economic and ecological disruptions. Adverse impacts to wildlife are also anticipated. This project threatens critical habitat of sensitive, threatened, and endangered species, such as wolverines and grizzly bears, as well as direct mortality. Sheep Creek is in the heart of the grizzly bear recovery area, and mining exploration and mining activities would create more bear-human conflicts. With climate change, wolverine habitat is already shrinking. Protecting high altitude wolverine habitat (like the habitat that currently exists in Sheep Creek) is key to their future denning success and long-term survival. It is also likely that mining in the high elevation Sheep Creek Basin will release toxic chemicals into the environment, some of which may be virtually impossible to remediate. In particular, a geologic sub-surface assessment is necessary to document the absence or presence of naturally occurring asbestos constituents and radioactive materials at the Sheep Creek site. Legacy mining impacts can be seen all over Montana, and should not be permitted in this fragile ecosystem. The issuance of a Categorical Exclusion (CE) by the Forest Service enables USCM to avoid the submission of an Environmental Assessment (EA) and is contrary to the public interest and the protection of the environment. Please require USCM to submit a full EA, with an associated public comment period. Thank you for your consideration.

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