RED LADY IS SAVED FROM AN INDUSTRIAL MINE!

For Immediate Release: August 29, 2024
 Crested Butte, Colorado
 Contact: High Country Conservation Advocates, Jon Hare - Advocacy Director, jon@hccacb.org 

A Mineral Extinguishment has been finalized between the local community and a mining company for a valuable molybdenum deposit located just west of Crested Butte, Colorado.

Since the discovery of molybdenum within Mt. Emmons in 1977, a mountain locally known as Red Lady, the proposal for a large industrial mine has been the catalyst for the community to embrace the surrounding natural environment, inspiring an ethos for the protection and conservation of public lands and open space far beyond the Gunnison River valley.

For nearly fifty years, the community—led by local non-profit High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA)—has opposed mining on Red Lady by working through the required environmental review processes to demonstrate how mining impacts would pollute drinking water and headwaters streams, undermine the local tourism-based economy, and have unacceptable impacts on local priorities such as agriculture, recreation, and the mountain communities in the area.

For reasons including the community’s long-standing opposition and the potential impacts, Mt. Emmons Mining Company (MEMC), owner of the private land and mining rights on Red Lady, came to the decision to forego future mining on the mountain, and will focus on reclamation and meeting water quality standards.

“The mineral extinguishment formalizes, and symbolizes, the community’s final transition to a tourism and amenities economy. It demonstrates the community’s commitment to the sustainability of the ecological processes supporting this economy and the quality of our lives, including water quality, fire management, and biodiversity. The mineral extinguishment, along with the land exchange, demonstrate the wonderful things we can make happen when we come together as a community,” said Ian Billick, Mayor of the Town of Crested Butte.

In addition to the Mineral Extinguishment, MEMC has also signed Conservation Easements to prohibit industrial or residential development on Mt. Emmons and provide legal public recreational access to traditional ski and hiking routes that cross the mine-owned private lands.

The Mineral Extinguishment and the Conservation Easements, executed through the Crested Butte Land Trust, are enforceable through local town and county governments. Additionally, the Mt. Emmons Land Exchange between MEMC and the United States Forest Service transfers federal lands on Mt. Emmons impacted by past mining into MEMC’s ownership in exchange for undeveloped land in Gunnison and Saguache Counties. Parcels in Gunnison County, originally intended to hold mine tailings, will now be included in the National Forest and managed for public access moving forward.

"This victory is an incredible testament to the staying power of the greater Gunnison Valley community. To say that not many mine fights end in a collaborative solution eliminating the potential to mine is an understatement. Finding a pathway to keep Red Lady mine-free has required creativity, trust building with MEMC, and decades of hard work. We feel immense gratitude for all who have helped us arrive at this moment." Julie Nania, Red Lady Program Director for HCCA.

“This has been one of, if not the, longest running environmental battles in history,” said attorneys Roger Flynn and Jec Parsons at the non-profit Western Mining Action Project (based in Lyons, CO), who have represented HCCA for 30+ years in the fight to save Red Lady. “The true praise belongs to HCCA and the community in Crested Butte, which never gave up and never lost faith.”

High Country Conservation Advocates (HCCA) was founded in 1977 by members of the local community to oppose the mine on Mt. Emmons and to create a local conservation organization with professional stac to protect and conserve the public lands, water, and wildlife in the Gunnison Country.

“This is one of the greatest outcomes of the conservation legacy in our nation’s history. As a resident of this valley, I am so thankful and appreciative of the people who have invested themselves in keeping the Gunnison Country a place where people can live and visit to enjoy unspoiled public lands and small mountain communities with recreation and agriculture-based economies. HCCA is dedicated to protecting the health, integrity, and beauty of the public lands, waters, and wildlife in Colorado’s Gunnison Country for the next fifty years.” Jon Hare, HCCA Advocacy Director.

The community will Celebrate Red Lady on October 4th in Crested Butte with a live band street dance on Elk Avenue.