Montana seals 20 hazards at abandoned uranium mines while protecting bats
Federal agencies in Montana have completed the closure of 20 hazardous abandoned uranium mine sites in the Pryor Mountains. The project prioritized public safety and radiation mitigation while incorporating measures to protect local bat populations.
Why it matters
This initiative demonstrates the intersection of environmental remediation, public health, and wildlife conservation in managing legacy industrial sites.
Several abandoned uranium mine sites in the Pryor Mountains of south-central Montana have been closed after federal agencies identified safety, radiation and environmental risks. The work was carried out on lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), with the Department of Energy’s Defense Related Uranium Mine (DRUM) programme and other partners involved.The project focused on five historic mine sites where workers addressed dangerous openings and other hazards, according to the information available on BLM's website. In September 2025, contractors completed work to close 20 mine features by backfilling mine openings, installing bat-friendly closure gates, fencing dangerous highwalls, plugging drill holes and removing solid waste.The need for the work was linked to the condition of the abandoned mines. The BLM said entering abandoned mine sites on public lands can be dangerous and, in some cases, fatal.
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