Three mining claims totaling more than 60 acres were recently purchased by the Custer Gallatin National Forest north of Cooke City, close to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness boundary.
The three parcels cost more than $322,000 with money coming from the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund, which is financed by taxes on offshore oil and gas leases.
The south side of the Southern Spy Lode mining claim, one of three recently purchased by the Custer Gallatin National Forest, is shown in this photo.
The mining claims, each about 20 acres, are located in the historic New World Mining District, an area of patented and unpatented mining claims.
The region made national headlines in 1996 when then-President Bill Clinton signed an agreement paying $65 million to Crown Butte Mines and Crown Butte Resources to prevent mine development on 25,000 acres just north of Yellowstone National Park and at the headwaters of the Yellowstone, Stillwater and Clarks Fork Yellowstone rivers.
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As part of the deal, the companies also paid to reclaim portions of the area dotted with about 50 historic gold, copper and silver mines and three former smelters that operated from the late 1800s to the 1950s.
In 2019, completion of the cleanup was hailed after 85 abandoned mines were reclaimed and nearly 180,000 cubic yards of toxic waste was removed, more than 400,000 tons from Soda Butte Creek that passes through Cooke City, according to the nonprofit conservation group Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
Acquired in the recent purchases were the Great Eastern Lode (20.06 acres near Daisy Pass for $85,387.50), New World Lode (20.66 acres north of Cooke City for $136,000) and Southern Spy Lode (20.65 acres near Daisy Pass for $101,000). The price for the Great Eastern Lode was less since the federal government already owned 28% interest in the land.
Last year, the Forest Service finalized a deal on seven mining claims totaling 136 acres near Daisy Pass. The agency already owned a 62.5% interest so the cost was reduced to $391,500 for the parcels.
“These acquisitions, along with the purchase of Daisy Creek in 2023, represent a significant step forward in the decades-long process of protecting this area, and support the goal of wildlife habitat conservation, and public recreation opportunities,” said Gardiner District Ranger Mike Thom in a statement.
In the summer, the area is an access point for the high-elevation 944,000-acre Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, dotted with hundreds of lakes. The area outside the wilderness is popular for ATV and four-wheel drive recreation on the numerous historic mining and county roads. In winter, the area is famous for snowmobiling and backcountry skiing and snowboarding
