Fourteen years after the Clinton White House stepped in to halt a gold mine from being built on the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park, a final piece of the settlement puzzle has been slid into place with the purchase of nearly 800 acres of private lands.

The announcement Tuesday that the Trust for Public Land and the U.S. Forest Service had closed on the purchase of 772 acres of land, and its underlying mineral rights, roughly 4 miles beyond the park's northeast entrance was applauded by Montana politicians and conservationists who in the 1990s worried that mining would send mineral wastes and chemicals into the park via Soda Butte Creek.

“This is Montana's outdoor heritage as well as creating good paying jobs," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. "I worked hard to find federal funding for this land because Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone River bring in millions in tourist dollars to Montana every single year -- and we can't afford to compromise that. Yellowstone is our nation's first national park and a truly a national treasure. I believe we've got to leave this place better than when we found it, and that means standing up for places like Yellowstone."

The mine proposed by Crown Butte Mines, a Canadian concern, was called the New World Mine for its location in the New World Mining District that dates to 1864 when prospectors started exploring the area. Concerns over how renewed operations might bring historic, as well as new, wastes into Yellowstone led to concerted efforts to halt the project, and even the United Nations took a stand by pointing to the proposed mine as the reason for placing Yellowstone on its list of “In Danger” World Heritage Sites.

At one point President Clinton visited the area to talk to activists.

In 1996, a solution was announced. In return for $65 million in federal land and other assets, Crown Butte abandoned its plans for the mountains above Cooke City, Montana, and created a $22.5 million fund to clean up the mess that had been left behind by past mining operations.

But the proposed settlement was crafted without the input of Margaret Reeb, a retired schoolteacher from Livingston, Montana, who owned most of the mineral rights in the area. While she refused to sell those rights to the government, she eventually entered into an agreement guaranteeing her claims would not be mined.

When Ms. Reeb passed away in 2005, her estate passed on to her nephews, Mike and Randy Holland. They worked with the Trust for Public Lands to bring all of their aunt’s mining claims into public ownership as originally contemplated in the 1996 agreement. TPL bought the claims over a two-year period -- last year the Hollands sold 696 acres, and now they've sold the final 772 acres -- and and then sold to the U.S. government for inclusion in the Gallatin and Custer National Forests.

A total of $8 million was secured for the two-year purchase from the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the primary funding source for land acquisitions by the U.S. government. The appraised value for all 1,468 acres of the mining claims was $9 million.

Mary Erickson, Forest Supervisor for the Gallatin and Custer National Forests, said the acquisition of these critical private lands will help conserve watersheds and Yellowstone cutthroat trout, key habitat for grizzly bear, elk and moose and other species, provide public access and recreation opportunities near Cooke City, and offer a viable option to resale and development.

"This is a wonderful day for Yellowstone and the millions of people who cherish it," said Greater Yellowstone Coalition Executive Director Mike Clark, who led the successful fight against the proposed New World Mine as GYC's director in the mid-1990s. “After more than two decades of tireless efforts by hundreds of dedicated people, TPL has done an outstanding job of pushing the ball across the goal line. This deal finally closes the book on one of the greatest threats to the integrity of one of the world's most beloved parks."

As Alex Diekmann, a Senior Project Manager for TPL, put it: “Putting the Reeb claims back into public ownership is a big win for everyone. Not only does it guarantee that a mine will never be built up there, but it also ensures that extraordinary scenery and critical wildlife habitat for grizzly bear, elk and other species will not be spoiled by inappropriate backcountry development. I am thankful for the broad support this project received from the Beartooth Alliance, Park County Commissioners, and a host of hikers, hunters, anglers and others.”