The fate of the Sheep Creek Rare Earth Exploration Project is now in the hands of the Bitterroot National Forest. They’re taking public comment on the project until Monday, September 13th.
At issue is the proposed Sheep Creek Mine, south of Darby. If earlier events are any indication, the Bitterroot National Forest is going to get an eye-full of furious comments from the public. At an event earlier this year, organized by the group Save the American West and other locals, concerned about the side-effects of the mine project. It appeared to be a wholly non-partisan event–rare in these times, but both Republicans and Democrats agree the mine is a bad idea.
Area residents haven’t been impressed, especially when they learned that the Federal Permitting Council has put the mine on the “FAST-41” list of projects for federal review and permitting. Residents expressed concerns about the lack of a local office along with no regular briefings and no full-date release. Others pointed out other mining disasters that were left for taxpayers to clean up.
The Bitterroot Water Partnership has called a community meeting Tuesday night at the Hamilton High School. Included are the Ravalli County Commissioners and the Ravalli County Economic Development Authority.
