Planned Gold Mine Threatens Idaho’s South Fork Salmon River

Photo credit: Brian Ward

Dangerous, ill-conceived mining projects have been in the news recently, from threats to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, Bristol Bay in Alaska, and Oak Flat in Arizona. There’s another massive proposed mine that’s gotten less attention, but which deserves every bit as much of a fight: the Midas Gold Stibnite project atop the headwaters of Idaho’s South Fork Salmon River.

The South Fork Salmon is one the finest big water multi-day whitewater trips in the lower 48, drawing paddlers during spring high water from around the West and around the world. In summer—at more mellow flows—it’s an off-the-beaten-path, equally spectacular alternative to the better know Middle Fork Salmon.

The proposed open-pit mine would sit literally atop the East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River, with the mining company proposing to divert the river into a tunnel—complete with lights—to purportedly help migrating fish. The mine would directly degrade more than three square miles of the Payette National Forest in the territory of the Nez Perce Tribe, who vigorously oppose the mine. Threatened salmon, steelhead, and bull trout all rely on the protection of this watershed. The project would extract gold from open pits with cyanide leach processes, leaving 100 million tons of contaminated mining materials behind a 450-foot high dam with the additional risks of tailings dam failure, acid mine drainage, and cyanide spill.

I’ve visited the South Fork many times, and every time, I’m reminded that I could keep paddling all the way back to my home in the Columbia River Gorge, hundreds of miles downstream. A project at the headwaters of this vitally important river has the potential to imperil an entire region that’s way of life depends on the outdoors, clean water, and fisheries already suffering from the impacts of hydropower. 

This project will have serious consequences on outdoor recreation; the health of rivers, fisheries, clean water, and wildlife habitat; and local communities. You can learn more about the project from our friends at Save the South Fork Salmon.

Until January 10, the Forest Service is accepting comments on a recently-released Draft Environmental Impact Statement and a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, which clock in at thousands of pages. The short timeframe, which overlaps with two significant holiday periods in the U.S., is insufficient for adequate review and public comment. Local organizations, including Save the South Fork, Idaho Rivers United, and The Idaho Conservation League, as well as our partners at American Whitewater, are working as fast as they can to review the materials and create formal comments from our organizations.

In the meantime, it’s incredibly important that the public reach out and express their concerns, both with the expansion of the mine, and with the rushed timeframe for public comment.