Rock Creek Alliance Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Line 28: Rock Creek Mine Project. Rock Creek Alliance, Inc.: (Alliance) has worked to increase awareness of the threats of the proposed Rock Creek Mine (on water quality, wilderness, fisheries & wildlife, and local communities) while garnering public support for its work in Idaho, Montana and beyond. This is accomplished by providing information to members, organizations, businesses, public officials, agency decision-makers and the general public, via newsletters, brochures and the organization's website; radio interviews, news articles and print ads; educational presentations, events and meetings; and social media. The organization has acquired scientific & technical reviews of NEPA documents related to the mine plan in order to provide a critique of agency & industry-generated studies, and it has provided substantive comments pertaining to these documents and studies during public comment periods. Over the years, the Alliance has filed and prevailed in court appeals brought in Federal and State Courts, and, as a result, key permits and approvals have been rescinded with additional analyses and public input required. In 2023, the Rock Creek Alliance continued to pursue an ongoing case in State Court concerning the "bad actor" provision of the Montana Metal Mine Reclamation Act. Phillips Baker, the CEO of Hecla Mining, has ties to Pegasus Gold, which filed for bankruptcy in 1998. Under Baker's tenure, Pegasus Gold left tens of millions in ongoing cleanup costs at the Zortman-Landusky, Basin Creek, & Beal Mountain mines. Under the state's "bad actor" law, Hecla Mining, led by Phillips Baker, cannot open up a new mine in Montana until the company assumes liability and cleans up the pollution at those mines, while paying fees issued by the state. Our original Complaint was brought against Montana DEQ for its failure to enforce the bad actor law, but following a 2022 court decision, we amended our Complaint in 2023 to include Phillips Baker and Hecla Mining Company for violations of Montana's Bad Actor provision. Our goal was to obtain a court order that would bar Hecla from mining in Montana. In 2024, the bad actor case was dismissed after Phillips Baker retired.

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -37.1%; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.84; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 6.9%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 55th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: -19.4% per year; rating input score 0; 15th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: -4.1% per year; rating input score 0; 26th percentile among comparable filings