News

“60 Minutes” misses the mark on public lands

by Bill Pfeiffer

by Chris Edgington, MTU Jefferson Project Coordinator

Tick, tick, tick, tick… An iconic sound of my childhood, the CBS News’ 60 Minutes intro stirs curiosity and anticipation. On a Sunday evening in November, I sat with friends and family in greater anticipation than ever before as that time-honored ticking announced the airing of the segment, “Inside Montana’s fight to block the sale of federally owned land.”

For almost 7 years, I’ve represented MTU as a part of an ever-increasing influential collaborative, the Ruby Valley Strategic Alliance (RVSA). Alliance members’ shared values and thoughtfully produced comment letters to our elected officials have garnered respect and political weight – we are a microcosm of the makeup of Montanans. Over the past year, the group has weighed in on federal agency staff cuts and reorganization, the Roadless Rule, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and, of course, the public lands sell-off budget reconciliation bill introduced into Congress.

Recently, the RVSA was approached by 60 Minutes about our public land advocacy. The show’s producers were intrigued by how such a diverse group could engage in healthy dialogue, disagree respectfully, and develop support letters that satisfied the member organizations, and more importantly, protect the places we care about. While these kinds of discussions and groups are common within the TU sphere, the idea can be foreign to many.

While I enjoyed the process and the interview with Jon Wertheim, the story that aired focused more on affordable housing, rather than the ecological, social, and intrinsic benefits of keeping public lands intact that transcend the psyche of the American West. The story goes much deeper, as these places shape and guide our mission to conserve, protect, and restore Montana’s coldwater fisheries and their watersheds.

Wild places are the heart and soul of American angling culture and conservation. Over 70% of native trout and salmon species rely on intact and healthy ecosystems on public lands. Lakes, streams, and rivers that flow from public lands are generally healthier than those far from them. Thanks to the pioneering research by legendary Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks biologist Dick Vincent and the support of MTU chapters, Montana is a wild trout state. Unlike other states, Montana doesn’t stock its rivers. Fish need tributaries to complete their life history; most of those streams arise and flow through public land.

Lands held in stewardship by the Forest Service are sources of drinking water for tens of millions
of Americans. Montana truly is a headwaters state, where snowmelt feeds rivers that terminate in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, including the Hudson Bay. It’s vital to all downstream users that these lands stay intact. Clean, connected, cold water is a finite resource, and it is worth protecting. Public lands are essential in maintaining that.

Growing up in central Nebraska, surrounded by cornfields, my journey on public lands in the West provided me the ultimate freedom to roam, hone traditional and recreational skills, and camp for weeks on end. I met interesting people, many of whom have become lifelong friends, and hundreds of others who share common values in these places. Those experiences led me to become a passionate angler and career conservationist.

Public lands enrich the lives of countless Montanans and Americans around the nation. MTU will continue to advocate for better policy, educate the next generation of conservationists, and defend against the sell-off of public lands to ensure that these critically important and special places remain a treasured and productive resource for fish and people alike. Public lands are a timeless treasure we inherited and should pass on to future generations. Any ticking they invoke should be the sound of their perpetuation, not a countdown to their disappearance.

This story originally appeared in the Winter 2026 issue of the Trout Line newsletter and as an opinion piece in state newspapers.

Action Alert

Public ignored in pursuit of Sheep Creek Mine

by Bill Pfeiffer

On December 1st, 650+ Ravalli County residents packed a County Commission meeting with one agenda topic: a rare earth element mine in Sheep Creek, a Bitterroot River headwater. Specifically, the public and Commissioners wanted more information from U.S. Critical Materials (USCM) about its plans and the proposed fast-track permitting process. Less than 2 weeks later, with few questions answered, USCM submitted a draft Plan of Operations (the Plan) for mine exploration to the US Forest Service.

Montana Trout Unlimited (MTU) has long advocated for the Bitterroot’s prized fishery, and for responsible mining. In this unfolding situation, three things are clear: 1) There is deep concern about the many risks of mining in the headwaters of the Bitterroot, 2) USCM continues to ignore requests for communication, transparency and information needed to understand those risks, and 3) demands for rare earth elements can be met through existing mines and mine waste without the risks that new mines pose.

At the meeting, USCM representative Scott Osterman stated, “We’d like to have the advice of people…who share the same commitments to our environment that are sitting in this room today. And we view that feedback and that participation as extremely important.” Unfortunately, this is completely inconsistent with company actions. Osterman also stressed the company was not moving quickly, despite the Plan’s placement on the federal FAST-41 list, which enables a faster-than-normal permitting process.

Community feedback was clear: withdraw from the FAST-41 track, hit reset and truly engage with local people, businesses and elected officials. Montana’s Congressional delegates agreed. Within 24 hours, our congressmen issued statements urging USCM to, indeed, slow down and engage the community. However, less than 2 weeks later, USCM submitted their Plan with no additional public outreach and no acknowledgement of the Commission’s and federal delegation’s requests.

Actions undermine claims made by USCM that “future mining” would not harm the Bitterroot. Water quality and water quantity are top of mind for most Montanans. Osterman stated, “Our plan is not to draw any water from Sheep Creek, nor to discharge any water.” Yet the Plan states that if groundwater that floods the underground workings is not sufficient, “additional process water” will come from “Sheep Creek, or the West Fork of the Bitterroot River.” The Plan provides no indication of how much groundwater the company might encounter, how much processing water it might use, nor any indication of how USCM expects to divert this water without Montana water rights.

That’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the lack of detail provided about the mine exploration process and associated risks. USMC claims that there is no risk of water pollution in public, but the company’s own lab results from previous exploration indicate that acid mine drainage and radioactivity are actual risks. Again, no further information is provided to relieve these concerns.

MTU’s 60+ year history began with local efforts to protect invaluable water resources. The Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited helped establish our organization and both have invested in policy, advocacy, on-the-ground restoration and education to support the Bitterroot and its fishery. We are committed to ensuring that a mine, especially a poorly planned one, does not imperil the Bitterroot.

There are better ways to strengthen domestic critical mineral supply without risky mines like Sheep Creek. We are investigating options to meet demands for critical minerals that instead rely on existing mines or mining waste. In short, we will invest in smart, safe ways to strengthen the domestic mineral supply. So far, USMC’s plans fall far short. Sheep Creek, the Bitterroot River and everyone in the watershed deserve better.

Add your name below if you want to stay informed, help us demand a transparent process from USCM and protect the precious water resources of the Bitterroot River for future generations.

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Action Alert

ACTION ALERT: Clean Water Act Under Attack

by Bill Pfeiffer

On November 17, 2025, the U.S. EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (“the Agencies”) jointly announced a proposed rule to dramatically restrict which bodies of water are protected by the safeguards of the Clean Water Act. The new proposal would substantially weaken the Clean Water Act, one of the Nation’s most effective natural resource laws. Many of Montana’s wetlands and hundreds of miles of streams stand to lose protection with this rollback.

The opportunity for public comment on this new proposal is now open. Visit TU’s “Take Action” portal to personalize your comment. The comment period will close on Monday, January 5th at 11:59p Eastern.  

The agencies’ proposal would strip federal Clean Water Act protections from millions of stream miles in the country – streams that contribute to the drinking water supplies of more than 117 million Americans and provide essential fish and wildlife habitat that support a robust outdoor recreation economy worth over $1 trillion. The proposed rule would also reduce or eliminate protection for millions of acres of wetlands, a critical part of functioning watersheds, including groundwater recharge, pollution filtration, as well as protecting communities from flooding. 

In eliminating these protections, the proposed rule would deregulate a host of development activities, such as pipeline construction that will, over time, degrade hunting and fishing opportunities in every state in the country.

Stand up for Clean Water.
The Clean Water Act is vital to MTU and TU’s work and to anglers across the nation. Whether TU is working with ranchers to restore small headwater streams, remediating pollution caused by abandoned mines, or protecting places like the upper Bitterroot where new extraction is being proposed, we rely on the Clean Water Act to safeguard our water quality improvements.   

TU members, and sportsmen and women nationwide, want to move forward with progress on cleaning up our nation’s waters, not go backwards.  Please join us in writing to tell the Agencies that the Clean Water Act needs to be strengthened, not weakened.