he Cabinet Mountains Wilderness is located in the Kootenai National Forest, approximately 15 miles southwest of Libby, Montana in the northwestern corner of the state. This area contains some of the most beautiful sub-alpine scenery in western Montana. Elevations range from 3,000 feet to 8,738 feet atop Snowshoe Peak. Variety best describes the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness with its high, rocky peaks often snowcapped year-round crowning canopied valleys that harbor groves of huge cedars thriving in a temperate rainforest climate. Hidden in the peaks and ridges are scores of deep blue lakes, feeding clear, cold streams that tumble to moose country below.

When the Wilderness Act of 1964 was passed, the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness was one of the nation’s first ten wilderness areas to receive protection.  Today, the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness remains the sole wilderness area in the Cabinet Mountains Range and in the 2.2 million-acre Kootenai National Forest. Unfortunately, this wilderness has been continuously plagued by the threat of hardrock mining. Two massive mining projects have been proposed that would operate beneath and adjacent to this wilderness. The Rock Creek and Montanore mines would include numerous surface intrusions and impacts, with support facilities rimming the border. Expanding the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness is absolutely essential. This wilderness is only 94,360 acres and needs to be enlarged to offset the ongoing mineral threats near its borders.  Annexation of the East Face, West Face, and Galena Inventoried Roadless Areas also would add habitat for the dwindling populations of grizzly bear, lynx, wolverine, mountain goat, and other species that are threatened by industrialization and motorized recreation.