Page 10 - Flathead Beacon // 7.15.15

NEWS
Cyclists Hit the Road for Glacier Park
Conservancy, environmental advocacy group organize five-day trip to raise money for bike projects in the park
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
WEST GLACIER – Thirty bicyclists hit the road on July 7 as part of a fundraiser for the Glacier National Park Conservancy. The six- day, 250-mile trip took them to nearly every corner of the park and into Canada.
Organized by Missoula-based Climate Ride, the event raised more than $100,000 for bicycle-related projects inside the park.
Among the projects being supported are the installation of bike racks and the purchase of a bicycle trailer so that people can ride a bus from Apgar or Lake McDonald to Avalanche to ride up the Going-to-the-Sun Road in spring. The Avalanche parking lot often fills up quickly in the spring as cyclists start their trek up the Sun Road before it opens to traffic. The projects need $52,000 and are part of the conservancy’s 2016 field guide, a fundraising initiative that kicked off this month.
Jay Ruzicka fixes a tube on his bike before departing Glacier Guides. Climate Ride and the Glacier National Park Conservancy teamed up to hold a five-day bike ride through Glacier National Park to raise money for bike related projects in the park. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
raised nearly $3,000 before making her first ever trip to Glacier Park. She had a friend par- ticipate in a Climate Ride-sponsored event a few years ago and said it was a great way to give back.
“I thought that biking the park would be the coolest way possible to see it on my first trip,” she said.
Climate Ride organizes numerous hikes and bike rides across the country to raise awareness about the environment. Besides seeing land- scapes impacted by climate change first hand, the riders attend presentations to learn more about each area. Besides the ride in Glacier, Cli- mate Ride organizes a ride from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Chicago and from Bar Harbor, Maine, near Acadia National Park, to Boston.
Caeli Quinn, the executive director and co-founder of the organization, said that since 2008 the group has given more than $2.2 million to conservation organizations around the country.
The ride started at Glacier Guides in West Glacier with a trek up the Camas Road on the west side and ended with a rafting trip down the Middle Fork of the Flat- head River on July 12. Each participant raised money so that they could participate, including Greg Olson, a
conservancy board member. Olson raised $12,500 from friends and family.
“Everyone knows that Glacier is a good cause, so everyone wants to support it,” he said.
Amanda Thieroff of Port Townsend, Washington
“Our goal at Climate Ride is to give people the tools to be citizen philanthropists,” she said. “Our goal is to con- nect people to the American landscape and make them want to protect it.”
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Hecla Begins Remediation Efforts at Shuttered Troy Mine Idaho-based mining company took over Revett in June, vows to develop Rock Creek project
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
The Troy Mine’s new owner is begin- ning the process of permanently closing the Lincoln County copper and silver mine that shuttered earlier this year.
The U.S. Forest Service and Montana Department of Environmental Quality are currently reviewing the reclamation plan for the Troy Mine and officials with Hecla Mining Company say they are con- fident that the physical work of closing the mine will begin next year. The recla- mation plan was last updated in 2012 and
spokesperson Luke Russell said little has changed in three years.
“Where there were buildings will just be a grassy meadow,” Russell said.
Seven people are currently working at the Troy Mine, including five who are ensuring that the mine, which operated from 1981 until this year, does not fill with groundwater. The reclamation plan calls for the tailings area to be reseeded and that buildings, like the mine processor and offices, be torn down. The mine por- tals will also be closed off and eventually the facility will fill with water. Russell
said it could take two to three years to complete the shutdown. After that, the company will continue to monitor the water and environmental conditions for at least a decade.
While Hecla works on closing the Troy Mine, it’s also focusing on developing the Rock Creek Mine beneath the Cabi- net Mountain Wilderness. Officials hope the mine will enable them to harvest copper and silver from one of the larg- est, untapped deposits in the world. Rus- sell said the USFS is currently review- ing a supplemental draft Environmental
Impact Statement and that a record of decision for the mine could be issued next year.
The Troy Mine closed in late 2012 after a series of underground rock falls. Revett struggled for more than two years to reopen the mine but eventu- ally decided to close it. When Hecla pur- chased Revett earlier this year, the com- pany announced it would permanently close the Troy Mine.
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JULY 15, 2015 | FLATHEADBEACON.COM