Stories
Opinion: Let’s band together to protect our Smith River!
Summers on Montanas’s Smith River. Does it get any better than that? Our beloved Smith River is a place where we gather with family and friends to soak in some of Montana’s most pristine wilderness. But this cherished land continues to be under threat by outside industrial mining interests.
More Letters
Smith River too precious to gamble with — Sandra & Dave Pisauro, Aug. 4, 2024
Smith River: Clean water benefits everyone — Mark Savinski, July 28, 2024
Prioritize the preservation of the Smith River — Dave Wilsey, July 28, 2024
Protect the cherished headwaters of the Smith — Alan Weltzien, July 24, 2024
Photo by Anne Vickers.
Photo by Chris Sawicki.
Personal Story: Jessie Wiles
“The first time I floated the Smith River on a long rainy Memorial Day weekend, I couldn’t fully zip up my rain jacket because my expanding midsection held my first child. It was his first float trip. As I tried to stay warm and somewhat dry on the bobbing raft, I narrated for him how the canyon sounded, how the eagles huddled on dead tree limbs in the rain looking for fish, and how the mist surrounding the canyon made me feel as if nothing else existed. I hoped he would get to experience it for himself one day.”
Media
News: Smith River advocates petition Forest Service for public land mineral withdrawal
Advocates against mining in the Smith River watershed delivered roughly 10,000 signatures to the Forest Service office in Helena on Tuesday, calling for an administrative mineral withdrawal on public lands surrounding the central Montana river. An administrative mineral withdrawal would temporarily remove federally owned public land around the Smith from new mining claims.
Photo by Ronald Taylor.
News: Smith River coalition petitions Forest Service to withdraw mineral leases
A coalition of environmental organizations opposed to mining in the Smith River watershed delivered a petition signed by about 10,000 people Tuesday to the U.S. Forest Service office in Helena urging it to withdraw mineral leases granted to a mining company whose mine on private land nearby is already being challenged.
News: Advocates call for mining withdrawal on public lands in Smith River area
Advocates are asking the U.S. Forest Service to take action to prevent mining in public lands near the Smith River. On Tuesday morning, members of the Smith River Public Lands Coalition met outside the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest offices in Helena. They delivered what they called a “boatload of signatures” – around 10,000 – on a petition calling on USFS to put a mineral withdrawal on forest lands near the planned Black Butte Copper mining project in Meagher County.
