Mining company Teck works with Kalispel Tribe to conserve hundreds of acres with 'nature positive' project

R oughly two years ago , Teck Washington, the local arm of the Canadian-based mining company, reached out to the Kalispel Tribe for a meeting.

The tribe wasn't told exactly why, but staff members knew it likely had something to do with the closure of the Pend Oreille Mine, a lead and zinc operation idled for decades by a previous owner until Teck reopened it in 2004 and ran it until 2019. Teck announced it was starting the mine's closure in 2021, under a process regulated by the state Department of Ecology.

"We knew they probably wanted to talk about the environmental side of the mine closure with the tribe and see where we sat," explains Ray Entz, the director of wildlife and terrestrial resources for the Kalispel Natural Resources Department. "They introduced us to their nature posit