Smith River Protection
What can I do to help save the Smith?
While we await the final decision by the Montana Supreme Court, regardless of the outcome we will remain staunch defenders and watchdogs of the Smith. Additionally, we are working with Montana Fish Wildlife & Parks on identifying restoration opportunities to improve water quality and quantity for the future.
MTU continues to incur significant costs in our fight to defend the Smith. Please visit our donation page to make a contribution today.
Smith River Protection Timeline
A visual history of our fight to protect the Smith.
Learn More About the Smith River and the Mine
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The Smith River is more valuable than copper
“In issuing this permit, we believe state regulators are dismissing the concerns of business owners, landowners and most of us who care about the Smith. Folks who would be directly impacted by the damage this mine could cause to Sheep Creek, the Smith River, its Blue-Ribbon trout fishery and the $10 million a year it…
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Conservation groups challenge Smith River mine permit
On June 4, 2020 Montana Trout Unlimited, Montana Environmental Information Center, Trout Unlimited, Earthworks, and American Rivers filed a lawsuit in state district court challenging the mine operating permit approved by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), alleging a failure to conduct a thorough environmental analysis and ignoring over 12,000 public comments opposing the mine.…
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Permit for Smith mine approved despite major public opposition
This is the wrong mine in the wrong ore body in the wrong watershed. The DEQ completely failed to look at that cumulative analysis, the potential of mine expansion to occur. It’s going to impact several more tributaries of the Smith River if in fact Sandfire is able to pursue its vision for this 50-year mining…