creating environmental improvements through biodiversity

ANNEX 2
TROUT UNLIMITED’S ABANDONED MINE LAND INITIATIVE
Location: Western United States, Multiple Project Sites
Time-scale: 2003 – present
Summary
Mining has played an important role in driving the exploration and settlement of the American West,
providing significant employment opportunities and fuelling the national economy. However, this rapid
economic expansion has left the region with a legacy of more than 500,000 abandoned mines and 16,000
miles of affected streams, many of which are situated on public lands. Often laced with toxic metals and
sediments, abandoned mine drainage degrades drinking water, diminishes aquatic habitat and robs rivers of
their ability to support fish and wildlife. For communities in the mountain headwaters, this has meant higher
costs for treating drinking water, public health woes and lost jobs. Trout Unlimited believes that mining
communities, having given so much for so long, deserve better.
Trout Unlimited’s mission is to conserve, protect and restore North America’s trout and salmon fisheries
and their watersheds. It accomplishes this on local, state and national levels with an extensive and dedicated
volunteer network. The Abandoned Mine Land Initiative seeks to reclaim a legacy of pollution generated by
abandoned mines and contribute to the future of clean and healthy watersheds in the region.
To date Trout Unlimited’s activities to deal with the legacy of abandoned mines have focused on raising public
awareness, building alliances, cultivating knowledge and initiating on-the-ground projects.
Description
Abandoned mines represent one of the most significant and least-understood problems for people, fish and
water quality in the western United States. Trout Unlimited’s initiative identifies opportunities for restoration
and conservation using volunteers across several different affected watersheds. Mining for hardrock mineral
resources across the region left a legacy of pollution, with significant impacts on water quality and wildlife.
The main source of this is acid mine drainage and heavy metals contamination. These cause discoloration,
sterilize streams of aquatic life and pose significant human health risks downstream. In many cases, native
trout species, aquatic insects and native vegetation have been decimated. Trout Unlimited’s concerns are
also for the wider community, however, as acid mine drainage and heavy metals can seep into groundwater,
potentially affecting human health through adjacent wells.
This volunteer-led local community conservation effort was harnessed to help restore several different
watersheds that have been affected by abandoned mine land pollution. This type of restoration works, as
evidenced by Trout Unlimited’s growing body of projects that illustrate the wide range of cost, size and
difficulty of various abandoned mine cleanups throughout the basic stages of restoration.
By increasing people’s familiarization with the issues and incorporating options for public participation locally,
the legacy of abandoned mine land pollution can be successfully transformed into healthy, productive and
diverse watersheds for the benefit and use of future generations.
Building on the basic understanding of the problems and the challenges to be overcome, Trout Unlimited
Sustainable Aggregates Creating Environmental Improvements through Biodiversity
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