Celebrating the 5-year anniversary of the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act!

It’s hard to believe that 5 years ago today the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act was signed into law, permanently protecting 30,000 acres of public land from two industrial-scale gold mines. It feels like a lifetime ago and like it just happened yesterday.

To this day, I am so proud of how our community came together, reaching across the aisle, putting aside our differences, and finding more that we could agree on than what we didn’t. All in an effort to protect this place – the land, water and wildlife, our way of life and economy. You can read more about what went into that effort in this story from March 2019.

So many community members dropped everything to accomplish this. They wrote letters and emails, went door to door, forged relationships with the entire Montana Congressional delegation, took trips to Helena and D.C., all the while trying to run local businesses and raise families. They missed birthdays, holidays, school trips with their kids. For over 4 years, there was only one goal.

I would say that helping to coordinate the Yellowstone Gateway Business Coalition and the passage of the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act are the biggest accomplishments of my life. Seeing our community come together as it did made me fall in love with this place all over again. 

We won, but we knew we needed to stand guard and protect our win. There was still a real threat that Crevice Mountain could eventually be mined, with many mining claims still on private property up near Jardine. But last fall, our partners in the fight, the Great Yellowstone Coalition were able to put the final nail in the coffin. They purchased those claims and removed that possibility. 

A lot has changed in the community over the past five years, but through it all, we know we all have more that we agree on than we disagree on. We love the river. We love the land and wildlife. We love our community and its people. So many of you who were involved in the campaign have continued to lead in new roles. Each day, the work continues to protect this precious place.

And thanks to people like you, Emigrant Gulch and Crevice Mountain are safe. Forever.

For the wild,

Karrie Kahle