Horse Heaven Mine comment period extended to April 3
The Horse Heaven Mining Project area interferes with incredibly important waterways for Chinook salmon, bull trout, and westslope cutthroat. Photo credit: IRU Staff
NOTICE: Due to a typo on the Forest Service project page, the comment deadline has been extended to April 3rd, 2023. If you haven’t already, we encourage you to submit a comment on the Horse Heaven project. Check out our reference materials here regarding the project.
At the end of January, we were alerted to an update on the Horse Heaven exploration project proposed to take place outside Yellow Pine on the Boise National Forest as it moved into the scoping phase of the NEPA review process. While we were only given two weeks to review and comment, we are incredibly proud to see how engaged our members were as we worked on our own comments and spread the word to the general public.
Idaho Rivers United submitted comments on this project this summer when it was listed as ‘pre-scoping’ and again submitted comments during this round in hopes to influence how the Forest Service approaches this drilling project directly west of the proposed Stibnite Gold Project.
We are extremely troubled by a few aspects of the proposed plan and the fact that this project has been categorized as a Categorical Exclusion (CE) for NEPA review. CE’s are the lowest level of analysis within NEPA and do not contain the same critique, documentation, or public involvement that would be required in an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
Under NEPA, a project can be classified as a CE if the responsible agency has determined that similar projects in the past have shown to not have any significant impact on the environment thus saving permitting time and staff resources. When there is question regarding the impact that will result from a project, an EA is prepared to dive deeper into the plan and determine if additional analysis is required to determine the extent of impact and identify the least disruptive path forward for the project.
While a CE listing may be appropriate for other exploratory drilling projects, similar to the Stibnite Gold Project, the location of the Horse Heaven drill sites raises additional concerns that should easily elevate analysis to an Environmental Assessment at a minimum to help determine the extent of the impacts that these actions will have on the local environment.
In particular, the location of the drill sites are uphill of Johnson Creek and the East Fork of the South Fork Salmon River. Both are incredibly important waterways for Chinook salmon, bull trout, and westslope cutthroat. Johnson Creek in particular is a critical stronghold for Chinook salmon within the South Salmon drainage providing spawning habitat and as the site of long-term restoration work by the Nez Perce Tribe and other agencies.
While stated within the plan as a “last resort” option, it is proposed to use Johnson Creek itself as a water drafting site to satisfy the estimated 20,000 gallons of water per day that will be required for the project. Even with additional safeguards in place, if this drafting is allowed to take place, it will have a deleterious effect on migrating salmon and other resident populations, especially in late summer when streamflows are at their lowest.
In addition to the potential to harm aquatic life, the project would pose some major disturbances to wildlife. As proposed, operations could run up to 24 hours a day seven days a week. The increased noise, light, and human activity would cause a constant disturbance to local wildlife throughout the duration of the project.
Given the additional pressure that this area is already facing from the proposed Stibnite Gold Project, we urged the Forest Service to not consider this drilling project as any other and that they must look at all potential cumulative impacts that may result from this and other projects within the area.
As anyone who has spent time in Yellow Pine can attest, this area is one of Idaho’s gems for all forms of recreation. We sincerely hope that the Forest Service will take a step back and take the time to truly evaluate what is at state within this region if this project is allowed to move forward in its current form.
