gravel pit

Protect the Clearwater is fighting a gravel pit the state permitted between the Clearwater Wildlife Management Area and Elbow Lake near Clearwater Junction.

The Carlton Protection Trust sued Missoula County and the County Board of Commissioners in Missoula County District Court over the commissioners' decision to allow the Hendrickson gravel pit to expand into an adjacent 80-acre property.

The Montana Supreme Court has ruled against an injunction that stopped a gravel pit near Clearwater Junction, saying the neighbors challenging the pit used the wrong law.

After six months and five hearings, the Missoula Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday approved the expansion of a gravel pit in an area zoned only for residential development between Lolo and Florence.

Water rights, state law and other water-related issues took center stage in a hearing Thursday over whether Missoula County should grant a variance to allow a gravel pit south of Lolo room to expand in the years ahead.

Before handing down its decision, a state review board has asked an examiner to reinvestigate the details of a gravel pit near Clearwater Junction.

The proposed expansion of a gravel pit south of Lolo remains in limbo while the county has asked the pit owners and the neighbors to try to find a solution.

As Missoula County ponders a zoning variance for a gravel pit near Lolo, neighbors are already preparing to appeal.

Missoula County hopes to notch a number of conditions over the proposed expansion of a gravel pit in the Bitterroot Valley, including a bond for reclamation and a specific date for when the mine would sunset.

The gravel pit, owned since 2020 by Western Materials, currently covers 80 acres about 5 miles south of Lolo along Old Highway 93.