Message from the Board

August 2025

Kilgore Gold Project Community Site Tour

By Jessica McDermott

Friends of Camas has been a member of the Clean Kilgore Coalition for nearly a year now. This grassroots coalition is a group of ranchers, outdoor recreationists, families, conservationists, and non-profits committed to protecting eastern Idaho’s waters, lands, and way of life. The coalition has been working to protect the western Centennial Mountains outside of Kilgore from toxic cyanide gold mining through advocacy and legal action. 

For us at Friends of Camas, the project’s potential impact is multifaceted and could threaten the health of Camas National Wildlife Refuge. The Kilgore Gold Mining Project is located at the headwaters of Camas Creek, within the Upper Snake River Basin. The streams in this watershed ultimately recharge the Eastern Snake River Plain Aquifer, which provides drinking water to over 300,000 Idahoans. This water supply is also a key source of irrigation water that local farmers and ranchers depend upon for agricultural purposes. This means there is high risk for potential leaks and dumping of heavy metals into streams, which could then lead to the contamination of Camas Creek, in turn wildlife on the refuge, and the drinking water for many Idahoans in South-eastern Idaho. Migratory birds are also known to drink from or feed on dead insects at these open-pit leaching ponds, which would kill them. Additionally, Excellon Resources, the mining company overseeing the project, can draw surface water from Camas Creek for their operations, which may impact water levels at Camas National Wildlife Refuge.

While only exploratory drilling by the junior Canadian mining company has been approved, so far, little action has taken place. This could be due to financial difficulties or their lack of necessary paperwork as the mining will be conducted on 12,000 acres of Forest Service land. However, this summer Excellon Resources spoke about a “potential partnership,” which could mean selling their mining lease or partnering with another company to begin exploratory drilling.

Here's where you come in! For those interested in learning more about the Kilgore Project and want to help with the grassroots efforts to stop this toxic open-pit, heap-leach, cyanide gold mine, you can join the coalition for a free lunch and tour of the Kilgore Gold Project site on Saturday, Sept. 6. Attendees will meet at noon at Steel Creek Campground in Caribou-Targhee National Forest. Please RSVP here if you plan to attend. We hope to see you there!

For more information on the Clean Kilgore Coalition and the Kilgore Gold Project, visit protectkilgore.org.