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Groton Daily Independent
Thursday, Nov. 02, 2017 ~ Vol. 25 - No. 116 ~ 11 of 44
US moves to end ban on new uranium mining near Grand Canyon
By PAUL DAVENPORT, Associated Press
PHOENIX (AP) — U.S. of cials said Wednesday they have proposed ending the Obama administration’s ban on new uranium mining leases on public land outside Grand Canyon National Park.
The Forest Service proposed the change in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order for federal agencies to eliminate restrictions on energy production.
The Trump administration has moved to unravel former President Barack Obama’s environmental regula- tions aimed at curbing climate change.
“Adoption of this recommendation could reopen lands to mineral entry pursuant to the United States mining laws facilitating exploration for, and possibly development of, uranium resources,” according to a report last week by the Forest Service’s parent agency, the Department of Agriculture.
The Oct. 25 report also said it’s in the national interest “to promote the clean and safe development of America’s vast energy resources.” Nuclear power plants use uranium as fuel.
Conservationists are decrying the Forest Service’s move, saying past uranium mining in the region has polluted soils, washes, aquifers and drinking water.
“The Forest Service should be advocating for a permanent mining ban, not for advancing private mining interests that threaten one of the natural wonders of the world,” said Amber Reimondo, energy program director of the Grand Canyon Trust based in Flagstaff, Arizona.
Grand Canyon Trust of cials said there will be a public comment period on the issue, but it’s unclear when that process will begin. The decision will be nalized and implemented after that with little or no room for appeal, the of cials said.
In 2012, then-Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar banned new hard rock mining for 20 years on more than 1 million acres of national forest and Bureau of Land Management land near the Grand Canyon. He said he was acting to protect a “priceless American landscape.”
The ban did not affect existing mining claims in the region.
Animal rights groups sue Minnesota fur farm over gray wolves
LAKEVILLE, Minn. (AP) — Two animal rights groups have led a lawsuit alleging that a fur farm and pet- ting zoo near Minneapolis is breeding, neglecting and killing gray wolves.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund and the Lockwood Animal Rescue Center led the lawsuit on Sept. 29 against Teresa Petter, who owns Fur-Ever Wild in Lakeville, the Star Tribune reported.
They allege that Petter is breaking federal law by breeding gray wolf puppies as a petting zoo attraction and that she kills wolves that get too old and sells their fur.
Petter denied the accusations Tuesday, saying the allegations in the lawsuit “are absolutely whacked.” “I don’t even know how people can have that much imagination,” she said.
Petter said she’s not violating the Endangered Species Act because her animals are wolf-dog hybrids,
excluding them from federal law that protects gray wolves. She also said the fur she uses only comes from wolves that die naturally or are euthanized for aggression.
The groups contend that Petter previously claimed her animals were full-blooded wolves. They say she also made similar claims in government documents, on her website and on signs around her property.
“My observations con rmed that they were in fact gray wolves and not hybrids of any kind,” said Matthew Simmons, director of operations at Lockwood, of his visit to the farm last fall. “I based this observation on my 10 years of experience handling wolves and wolf-dogs on a regular basis.”
The groups also claim that the “broad purpose” of the federal protection is to save wolf-dog hybrids as well as pure-blood wolves.
The lawsuit seeks an injunction barring Petter from keeping wolves. A hearing on the injunction request hasn’t been scheduled.
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Information from: Star Tribune, http://www.startribune.com