HAMILTON - A group opposed to mining the Lost Horse Quarry south of Hamilton filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday against the U.S. Forest Service asking a judge for an injunction to stop any action at the site.
Back in April, Ravalli County commissioners asked the Bitterroot National Forest if it could extract 1,000 cubic yards of rock to be used for rip-rap for a bridge project. Earlier this month the Forest Service allowed the proposal to move forward after taking public comment and issuing a decision.
Before the Forest Service's decision this year, the quarry had lain vacant for nearly two decades.
A group called the Lost Horse Canyon Coalition and Rick Torre filed the suit against Darby District Ranger Chuck Oliver and the U.S. Forest Service.
The suit alleges that the Forest Service violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Forest Management Act when it excluded the project from review.
The quarry is said to be 4.99 acres, and to be excluded from NEPA review a project has to be 5 acres or greater.
“The Lost Horse Canyon was once the scene of a picturesque television commercial,” the plaintiffs' attorney Timothy Bechtold wrote. “Today, a proposal in Lost Horse Canyon's granite quarry threatens that romantic image. The proposed project is the center of this dispute.”
According to the plaintiffs, an environmental analysis should be completed to assess the quarry's impacts on endangered species such as westslope cutthroat trout, bull trout and peregrine falcons.
“The Forest Service must complete environmental analysis to determine the effects the project will have on peregrine falcons,” the suit alleges. “The Forest Service failed to assess the potential effect of this project on bull trout. The Forest Service failed to assess the potential effect of this project on westslope cutthroat trout.”
Additionally, the suit says the Forest Service failed to explain how the project would be “minor” and the agency failed to analyze the effects of the project on the residents and businesses.
The plaintiffs are asking for an injunction and for their attorney fees to be reimbursed.
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