Dodging development: Why a conservation group wants to buy a mine

The Greater Yellowstone Coalition recently announced it had raised $6.25 million to buy out Crevice Mining Group’s 1,368 acres, claims and water rights just north of Yellowstone National Park’s border.

Crevice came onto the scene in 2015 when it proposed mining on a mountainside above Gardiner. The proposal led to more than 400 local businesses and groups fighting to protect the area. The opposition was also focused on a proposal to mine just outside of Chico Hot Springs, in Emigrant Gulch.

This eventually led to the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, signed into law in 2019, removing 30,000 acres of public lands from mining in the region. However Crevice was not halted by the act, since it already owned private claims.

The GYC decided the best solution to halt any mining was to buy the Crevice owners out.

Brett French, outdoor editor at the Billings Gazette, recently reported on the buyout. 

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Montana Untamed, hosted by Thom Bridge, covers the state's rugged landscape from hook and bullet to policy and science.