Crowned by rocky peaks rising from deep glacial valleys, the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area is 93,000 acres of wild protected land in northwestern Montana. Situated within the Northern Rockies Yellowstone to Yukon Ecosystem, the wilderness is dominated by the moist coniferous forest of Montana’s only temperate rain forest. The Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area provides some of the best and most beautiful remaining remote and wild habitat for grizzly bear, lynx, bull trout, westslope cutthroat trout, harlequin duck, wolverine, mountain goat, and other species classified as "sensitive" due to their declining numbers or importance to ecosystem health.

Although the ore is located beneath public land protected by the 1964 Wilderness Act, the antiquated 1872 Mining Law has been interpreted by federal agencies to allow mining companies to pursue claims under the wilderness area. If allowed to proceed, the Rock Creek mine would set precedent in this country as the first mine operating within a federally designated wilderness area.

The stunning beauty of the Cabinet Mountains was first recognized by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1907 when he created the “Cabinet Forest Reserve.” Then, in 1935, the U.S. Forest Service designated the Cabinet Mountains for the “purpose of inspirational and other recreational enjoyment.” With the passage of the Wilderness Act in 1964, Congress officially designated the Cabinet Mountains as one of the first ten wilderness areas in the country.