Cliff Lake in the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area, Kootenai National Forest, northwest Montana. There currently is a proposal to develop a hard rock mine that would tunnel underneath the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness Area. One of the concerns is that the mining could create cracks and fissures in the granite to such an extent that mountain lakes like Cliff Lake could be drained. When photographing the lake I decided to hike up above the lake and have a view that would illustrate how fragile the lake sits in the glacially carved mountains. As I got above the lake I noticed the Clark Fork River in the far background. Since there is a big concern about the Clark Fork River becoming polluted from heavy metals I knew I had a good composition that could illustrate the close connection between the mountains and lower river valley.