A recently approved gold mine in Idaho’s backcountry is facing legal pushback from conservation groups who say it puts threatened species, public lands, and community health at serious risk.
What’s happening?
A group of local and national conservation organizations, including Idaho Rivers United , is suing the U.S. Forest Service over its approval of a controversial mining project in Idaho, arguing it threatens wildlife, public health, and clean water.
The project, known as the Stibnite Gold Project , is an “open-pit cyanide leach gold mine” planned for Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains.
The mine would use cyanide to extract gold and would significantly expand the current mining site, doubling it to more than 3,200 acres, roughly the size of 2,500 football fields. The area is also part of the ancestral lands of the Nez Perce Tribe …