Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 29 augusT 2017
US interior secretary urges mining ban near Yellowstone

By MATTHEW BROWN by grizzly bears, bighorn
Associated Press sheep and other wildlife
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. and harm streams that
Interior Secretary Ryan drain into the Yellowstone
Zinke wants to speed up a River, a popular trout fish-
proposal to block new gold ing destination that draws
mining claims on forested anglers from around the
public lands in Montana world.
near Yellowstone National Zinke also asked his staff to
Park and will also consider expand the agency’s re-
blocking other types of view to include other min-
mining, agency officials erals such as oil and gas,
said Monday. coal, and phosphate, ac-
Federal officials are under- cording to Aug. 23 letter
going a two-year review from Zinke to Agriculture
of mining on more than Secretary Sonny Perdue,
30,000 acres among the who oversees the Forest
towering peaks of the Ab- Service.
saroka mountains just north Of those minerals, only
of the park. phosphate is found in the
The review was launched This Nov. 21, 2016 photo shows Emigrant Peak towering over the Paradise Valley in Montana north Yellowstone region in vol-
last year by Zinke’s pre- of Yellowstone National Park, the day U.S. officials announced a ban on new mining claims across umes that could support
decessor, former Interior more than 30,000 acres in the area. U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says he wants to speed up mining, according to stud-
Secretary Sally Jewell, in a proposal to block new gold mining claims on public lands near Yellowstone National Park and ies by the U.S. Geological
response to local concerns will consider blocking other types of mining. Survey.
that two proposed gold (AP Photo/Matthew Brown) A Canadian company,
mines could profoundly Lucky Minerals, wants to
alter the character of a mining claims in an area for the withdrawal effort as assets to support the U.S. explore for gold and other
region heavily dependent north of the park known as Montana’s sole member of Forest Service in that mis- minerals north of Yellow-
on hikers, hunters and tour- Paradise Valley. The review the U.S. House but had not sion,” Swift said. “Some stone near Emigrant. An-
ists. of that withdrawal was publicly addressed the is- places are too precious to other company, Spokane,
Interior spokeswoman scheduled to be complet- sue since joining the Trump mine...This is very much a Washington-based Crev-
Heather Swift said Monday ed by the U.S. Forest Ser- administration in March. final decision.” ice Mining Group, is seek-
that Zinke wants to move vice and Interior’s Bureau “He is fully in the corner of Mining opponents have ing permission to explore
forward as quickly as pos- of Land Management by protecting the Paradise argued the proposed gold for gold near Jardine, just
sible with a proposed 20- November, 2018. Valley and is putting for- mines would industrial- over Yellowstone’s north-
year withdrawal of future Zinke had voiced support ward Interior Department ize wild areas populated ern boundary.
Former Interior Secretary
Sally Jewell ordered a two-
year prohibition on new
mining claims last year that
would not explicitly block
the pending exploration
proposals, both of which
involve private lands.
Yet a withdrawal would
make it more difficult to
pursue large-scale mining
by limiting the ability of the
two companies to expand
their operations in the fu-
ture, according to federal
officials and Michael Wer-
ner with Crevice Mining.
The proposed exploration
sites have a history of min-
ing.
However, in recent de-
cades they’ve become
more closely associated
with the natural ameni-
ties of Yellowstone and
the surrounding Absaroka-
Beartooth Wilderness.
Local business owner Bryan
Wells said the potential
mines have left people in
the Paradise Valley anx-
ious about their future. He
said a 20-year ban on min-
ing “would put smiles on a
lot of faces.”q