THE ISSUE
THE GREEN RIVER VALLEY
Lying in the shadow of Mount St. Helens, the Green River Valley is an incredibly beautiful and important corner of SW Washington. The area is beloved by many for its scenic views, remote and peaceful location, and boundless outdoor recreation opportunities. The Green River provides habitat for endangered steelhead, supports a wide range of wildlife, and supplies fresh drinking water to downstream communities. The area has important historical and cultural significance to the local tribes and supports the local economy through the outdoor recreation and tourism industries.
THE MINE THREAT
The Green River Valley has been under threat of a proposed copper, gold, and molybdenum mine for the past 15 years. So far, the Cascade Forest Conservancy has successfully prevented this project from moving forward through legal action… but Ascot Resources, the Canadian mining company seeking to develop this mine, is determined to move forward and is not showing any signs of stopping their efforts.
Photo: Silver Bell copper mine, Silver Bell, AZ - USGS
A THREAT TO TRIBES
This landscape has significant historical and cultural value to the local Indigenous communities such as the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation. Mount St. Helens is also known as Lawetlat’la, or “the smoker”, and is officially recognized as a Traditional Cultural Property of both Tribes. The Green River Valley lies on unceded lands of these Tribes that the US Government took and the Tribes and individual members have profound cultural and spiritual connections to this place that they have inhabited for centuries. The construction of an exploitative and extractive hardrock mine in the Green River Valley is certainly not in the best interest of the public and would be particularly costly to the Cowlitz and the Yakama Nation.
A THREAT TO WATER, FISH, AND PEOPLE
If the mine is built, polluted groundwater and potential tailing pond breaches of toxic mining waste would threaten the Green River and the life that depends on it. The Green River is an important habitat for many species, a gene bank for wild steelhead, and is eligible for a Wild and Scenic River designation. The Green River also provides fresh drinking water for thousands of people living along the North Fork Toutle River and Cowlitz River.
This area remains very seismically active, increasing the chances that a tailing pond breach will lead to a disaster for communities in SW Washington.
A THREAT TO RECREATION
The construction of a mine in the Green River Valley would have dramatic impacts on recreation. Noise pollution would disrupt any sense of peace and quiet in this beautiful and remote corner of the Cascades and the mine itself would cut off access to a number of trails that are beloved by many who visit the area to go hiking, mountain biking, back-country horse riding, botanizing, foraging, hunting, angling and more. The proposed mine site also sits on land that was purchased by the Forest Service using money from the Land and Water Conservation Fund for the explicit purpose of supporting conservation and outdoor recreation. In short this mine would devastate recreation opportunities and negatively impact tourism to the area.
OUR SOLUTION: A MINERAL WITHDRAWAL
To prevent the devastation that a mine would bring, the Green River Valley Alliance is fighting to secure a mineral withdrawal. A mineral withdrawal is a federal land management tool that prohibits mining activities within a given boundary. This designation does not impact other activities such as recreation, trail maintenance, or timber harvesting.
Our proposed mineral withdrawal boundary is just over 46,000 acres and was developed by assessing mining impacts to the watershed as a whole and was also guided by the original proposed boundary for the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
AN ALLIANCE AT WORK
We are pursuing a legislative mineral withdrawal, meaning we will ultimately need to secure this withdrawal through an Act of Congress. Fortunately, we have great examples of groups successfully securing a mineral withdrawal through the legislative process, even here in Washington! One thing that each of these efforts have in common is that they start at the local level and build upwards by securing the support of a wide variety of individuals, businesses, organizations, and policymakers. The Green River Valley Alliance was created to provide a space for those individuals and groups to collaborate and work together towards a shared vision of the future where the Green River Valley is permanently protected against the threat of mining.