A coalition of conservation groups filed a lawsuit Tuesday against the U.S. Forest Service for its approval last month of an open-pit gold mine in the headwaters of the South Fork of the Salmon River near McCall.

A coalition of local and national conservation groups sued the U.S. Forest Service Tuesday, Feb. 18 for its approval of the Stibnite Gold Project, an open-pit cyanide leach gold mine

The groups argue that the mine would jeopardize public health and clean water, harm threatened plants and animals, and permanently scar public lands.

Local and national conservation groups are suing the U.S. Forest Service for approving the reopening of the Stibnite mine earlier this year, a gold and antimony mining project in central Idaho.