Missoulian

KALISPELL - A controversial mine that would tunnel beneath the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness northeast of Noxon “moved a giant step closer to reality” Friday.

That's according to Bill Orchow, president and CEO of Revett Minerals. His comments came in response to a decision by federal regulators that the company's proposed Rock Creek mine will not, ultimately, jeopardize the future of protected species.

In fact, officials at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the best way to protect endangered grizzly bears in and around the wilderness would be to build the mine. That's not because the mine will prove particularly friendly to bears, but because the miners will pay for endangered species protections the government cannot currently afford.

The trade - approval to mine in return for millions of “mitigation” dollars - means the Rock Creek project has cleared what has proved a troublesome endangered species hurdle.

At least for now.

A decade back, the Kootenai National Forest - where much of the mine would be located - determined the plan was “likely to affect” animals protected by the Endangered Species Act.

That triggered a review by FWS, the federal agency charged with overseeing implementation of the species protection act. In 2000, agency officials issued a biological opinion, concluding the mine would jeopardize grizzly bears unless special measures were taken.

Nevertheless, the “bi-op” went on to approve the mining plan, and a coalition of project critics sued. In 2001, FWS was forced back to the drawing board, and in 2003 issued a new biological opinion.

That time, the agency determined a scaled-down version of the mine posed no jeopardy to grizzlies, even though it would displace the area's dozen or so bears from an estimated 7,000 acres of habitat. The same bi-op also found no jeopardy to the future of protected bull trout, despite Revett's plan to pour considerable wastewater into the Clark Fork River, via Rock Creek.

Again, a lawsuit was filed - this time by the nonprofit, public-interest law firm Earthjustice on behalf of the Rock Creek Alliance, Cabinet Resource Group, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited, Idaho Council of Trout Unlimited, Pacific Rivers Council, EARTHWORKS/Mineral Policy Center and the Alliance for the Wild Rockies.

The debate attracted national attention, and even jewelry retailer Tiffany and Co. entered the fray, running an advertisement in the Washington Post opposing the silver and copper mine.

In March 2005, U.S. District Court Judge Donald Molloy of Missoula sent FWS officials back to the table yet again, saying the newly revised 2003 bi-op still did not adequately assess potential risks to bears and bull trout.

In its latest biological opinion released Friday, the Fish and Wildlife Service again gave the mine a green light, and provided a more detailed explanation as to how that decision was reached.

The new document, according to FWS biologist Anne Vandehey, addresses all the issues raised by Molloy's court order and assures a future for the area's protected species.

That is in no small part due to a “mitigation package” estimated to cost Revett Minerals about $1 million per year over the 35-year life of the mine.

Specifically, Revett has agreed to purchase and protect upward of 2,500 acres of grizzly bear habitat, fund state bear management and wildlife law enforcement positions, install a $4 million water treatment plant, implement sediment controls, and fund long-term species monitoring. Revett also will pay for community education, for bear-resistant food and trash containers, for long-term water quality monitoring.

In addition, Vandehey said, Revett has agreed not to begin work until a state program successfully transplants six new grizzly bears into the area.

An oversight team - with members from state and federal agencies as well as Revett - will assure all conservation obligations are met.

“I think it's very positive,” said Carson Rife, vice president of operations at Revett, “not only for the project going forward but also for an effort of cooperative conservation to enhance populations of bull trout and grizzly bears.”

Thanks to Revett's money, Vandehey said, the bears and bull trout will be better protected than they are now, even with construction of the mine. Developing the mine, FWS biologists concluded, would result in the death of one bear during its 35-year operation, while the mitigation measures would “save many more than that.”

Vandehey did admit, though, that only four grizzlies have been killed in the mining area during the past 20 years, and that two of those were struck by trains. The number of Cabinet Wilderness bears that mitigation can “save,” then, remains by definition quite small.

While pleased with the FWS opinion, Rife said he still expects continued challenges from critics.

Those involved in challenging the last biological opinion said they had not yet reviewed the 600-page document. Opponents include a broad-based group of environmentalists, politicians and business leaders in both Montana and Idaho.

Assuming this latest decision sticks, however, Revett still must put in place a cleanup and reclamation bond before work can begin. In addition, another lawsuit - on hold pending this latest FWS opinion - remains active.

In that case, litigants have challenged the Kootenai National Forest's approval of the mine - an approval grounded in large part on the federal bi-op.

“That lawsuit's still out there,” said Paul Bradford, supervisor on the Kootenai National Forest. “It's unresolved.”

Before Revett can make any moves on the ground, Bradford said, his offices are required to give plaintiffs 60 days' notice to protest.

Should the latest bi-op prove lawsuit-resistant, and should all other legal and regulatory obstacles be cleared, the company plans to move ahead with mine development as quickly as possible, Rife said.

As planned, the 35-year project would build several miles of roads into the Cabinets, as well as railroad stations, pipelines, power lines, a tailings treatment plant and other infrastructure on more than 1,500 acres. At full capacity, it should yield an estimated 10,000 tons of copper and silver ore per day.