A coalition of local and statewide environmental groups is asking a federal judge to halt a controversial mining exploration project in the Cabinet Mountains.

Seven conservation organizations filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service in federal district court in Missoula on March 31, disputing the agency’s recent approval of a permit for Hecla Mining Company’s Libby Exploration Project. Formerly known as Montanore Mine, the project aims to expand a long-abandoned mining shaft tunneling beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area. 

“There are some places you just should not permit a mine, and this is one of them,” said Derf Johnson, deputy director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, in a March 31 statement. “Some of the cleanest waters in the lower 48, a refuge for endangered species such as grizzly bears and bull trout, and one of the first wilderness areas ever created. It’s just a terrible spot for opening a mine.” 

Montana Environmental Information Center joined with Cabinet Resource Group, Clark Fork Coalition, Earthworks, Save Our Cabinets and Yaak Valley Forest Council to file the complaint against the Trump administration. 

The groups alleged that the Forest Service relied on outdated data and cherry-picked information in completing the required environmental assessment for the Libby Exploration Project, resulting in severe underestimation of the project’s effects on water quality and endangered species. 

The first stage of the 16-year project involves pumping water out of the flooded mineshaft. The excess water will be treated at a water treatment plant before being discharged into the groundwater that feeds Libby Creek. 

The discharged water is expected to reach temperatures of about 62 degrees and have elevated levels of nitrogen, according to Hecla’s application for a Montana Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which plaintiffs argue will harm bull trout spawning grounds in Libby Creek. 

The cold-loving fish are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and federal agencies are required to “use the best scientific and commercial data available” to determine potential impacts to the species before approving a project. 

The environmental groups argue the Forest Service violated that requirement when it determined the Libby Exploration Project would not adversely affect bull trout. The federal agency used “stale measurements” that no longer reflect the conditions on the ground and failed to account for a variety of circumstances, including low water flows, higher summer temperatures and the cumulative effects of climate change, according to the complaint. 

There are similar complaints against the assessment of the project’s impact on threatened grizzly bear populations. The federal agency did not consider connectivity and the effects of illegal road use when completing its assessment, according to the plaintiffs. 

Baseline estimates for the grizzly bear population in the Cabinet Mountains were also calculated using a 2022 species status assessment. However, a 2024 assessment had been completed and published before the permit was approved. 

“The outdated 2022 species status assessment included significantly more optimistic population data, including more female bears with cubs, a lower human-caused mortality rate, and fewer human-caused mortalities overall,” reads the complaint. “The best available science, the 2024 species status assessment, reflects a significantly more precarious grizzly population in the Cabinet-Yaak Ecosystem.” 

Plaintiffs also questioned a groundwater model the Forest Service used to assess the potential for the project to draw down both surface and groundwater resources. A third-party consultant hired by the Forest Service characterized the model as largely uncertain, according to the complaint. 

“The Forest Service had a legal obligation to complete a comprehensive environmental impact statement and protect threatened species in the region and it failed to do so,” said Patton Dycus, a senior attorney with Earthjustice representing plaintiffs in the case. “We will not allow the Trump administration to put at risk the lands, waters and wildlife that make Montana special to enrich the mining industry.” 

The Libby Exploration Project was one of the first initiatives to benefit from an expedited permitting process implemented under an executive order, signed in March 2025, that sought to increase mineral production on federal lands. 

U.S. Magistrate Judge Kathleen DeSoto will preside over the case in federal district court in Missoula. A trial date has yet to be set.

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Reporter Hailey Smalley can be reached at 406-758-4433 or [email protected].