Federal judge blocks proposed silver mine beneath Cabinet Mountain wilderness

Judge blocks mine beneath Cabinet Mtn. wilderness

BILLINGS, Mont. — A federal judge on Monday blocked a proposal to dig a major new mine beneath a remote Montana wilderness area that boasts grizzly bears, rare trout — and huge reserves of silver and copper.

Mining companies have eyed the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness south of Libby for more than three decades. Development has been stalled by lawsuits from environmentalists.

Monday’s ruling from U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy says the U.S. Forest Service must reconsider its 2003 approval of a proposal by Revett Minerals to mine up to 10,000 tons of ore day from the Cabinets.

Molloy also ruled against the mine in 2005, when he struck down a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biological opinion of the project.

Revett CEO John Shanahan said the ruling will delay work scheduled to start this spring.

But he said the Spokane, Wash., company remains committed to the mine, which could employ up to 300 people.

“We’re in this for the long haul,” Shanahan said.

Molloy did not immediately provide the grounds for his ruling. Plaintiffs in the case had argued the Forest Service underestimated the potential environmental damage a mine would cause.

“It may be something relatively minor; it may be something relatively major,” Shanahan said. “We remain hopeful it’s something relatively minor.”

The case combines two lawsuits, a 2005 complaint against the Forest Service and a 2008 complaint against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

They were filed by the Rock Creek Alliance, Sierra Club, Great Old Broads for Wilderness and several other groups, although not all groups were named in both lawsuits.

Tim Preso, an Earthjustice attorney who represented the plaintiffs, said he was hopeful the Obama administration would be more critical of the mine than the Bush administration, which supported the project.

“There’s a lot at stake in terms of wildlife and wilderness,” Preso said. “We hope (the Obama administration) will take a different view of the question of whether it’s appropriate to authorize a massive industrial mining complex in sensitive wildlife habitat adjacent to a federal wilderness area.”