Post by Eagle Eyes on Jan 17, 2017 9:37:40 GMT -7
Open house on Paradise Valley mining ban set for Wednesday
By Michael Wright Chronicle Staff Writer
Emigrant Gulch Announcement
RACHEL LEATHE/ BOZEMAN CHRONICLE
Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced Nov. 21 that the Obama administration will protect 30,000 acres of land from new mining claims in Emigrant Gulch.
Forest officials are hosting an open house in Livingston on Wednesday on the mineral withdrawal in the Paradise Valley that the Obama Administration announced last fall.
The U.S. Forest Service said in a news release earlier this month that the meeting is meant to help people better understand the process for mineral withdrawal. The Forest Service and the Department of the Interior are considering whether to extend the current ban.
Administration officials visited Chico Hot Springs in November to announce a two-year ban on new mining claims on roughly 30,000 acres of public land near Emigrant Gulch and Crevice Mountain.
The temporary withdrawal stemmed from two exploratory mining projects that were proposed in the region. Environmentalists and locals pushed back against the proposals, eventually calling for the mineral withdrawal.
The announcement began the formal process through which the government is considering extending that ban to last as long as 20 years. The only way a ban can become permanent is through legislation. Montana’s Democratic Sen. Jon Tester pledged to introduce a bill during the next session of Congress to do just that.
The proposal for a temporary withdrawal is in the middle of a 90-day public comment period, which is scheduled to end Feb. 21. Comments can be sent to the Custer Gallatin National Forest at P.O. Box 130, 10 E. Babcock St., Bozeman, 59771.
Wednesday’s meeting will be at the Shane Lalani Center for the Arts in Livingston. It will run from 4 to 7 p.m.
Michael Wright can be reached at mwright@dailychronicle.com or at 582-2638. Follow him on Twitter @mj_wright1.
MORE INFORMATION:
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Ban Politics Law Legislation Official Mining Withdrawal Forest Service Open House Department Of The Interior
Michael Wright