GARDINER, Mont. — The Greater Yellowstone Coalition (GYC) is aiming to complete a $6.25 million buyout of Crevice Mining Group LLC on the northern border of Yellowstone National Park (YNP) by Oct. 1 to protect the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) from the pollution and disruption of gold mining.
According to Scott Christensen, executive director of GYC, the mining location is near Gardiner, Montana, on Crevice Mountain. The mining would threaten the heart of occupied grizzly bear habitat and the migration corridor for elk, mule deer and bighorn sheep, in addition to bison roaming and the Yellowstone River.
“Given the history of mining in our region and the impacts it’s had on loss of habitat and water quality, and many other negative impacts, we just knew that we had to intervene and do something,” Christensen says.
The purchase would include mineral rights, mining leases on private land, mining claims and the proprietary drilling data and mine plans for 1,368 acres, but GYC is also planning to work with landowners on the mountain to purchase more than 300 acres of private land to transfer to the Custer Gallatin National Forest for public access and permanent protection.
“We hope [this purchase] will further solidify this legacy and this notion that Yellowstone is more valuable than gold.”
Scott Christensen, executive director of GYC
“This project represents a real win-win,” Christensen says. “It’s one of the rare projects in today’s world where there’s alignment in terms of protecting the critical wildlife habitat, the water quality, the local gateway communities and business that depend on the park and tourism and allowing the mining company to walk away from this.”
As of May 12, GYC has raised $3,801,357 million of the $6.25 needed before Oct. 1 to complete the sale, or Crevice Mining Group LLC will go ahead with its mining project.
Christensen says GYC is looking for help from their base of supporters and from the public that loves Yellowstone. “It’s a rare win-win opportunity and one that we hope will further solidify this legacy and this notion that Yellowstone is more valuable than gold.”
Anyone can donate to help stop the mine here.
