Feds Propose 20-Year Mining Ban on BLM Lands in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah

The US Department of Interior announced in February a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for hard rock (read uranium) mining in Northern Arizona which triggered a 45 day public comment period on 4 alternatives proposed. The public comment period ended and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on June 20, 2011, announced a 20-year withdrawal of mining claims and exploration on nearly 1 million acres, north and south of the Grand Canyon National Park, managed by the BLM and the Forest Service. The Secretary’s final decision will be made after the final EIS is completed in late 2011. In addition, Secretary Salazar imposed an emergency six-month segregation on the lands being evaluated. That means no new mining claims can be filed on those lands. The emergency segregation ends Jan. 21, 2012. Arizona and Utah government officials have united to block a proposed 20-year withdrawal of 1,000 acres of federal lands in Northern Arizona and Utah that would prohibit new mining claims, a ban that could mean billions of dollars in lost revenues for county and state coffers. Arizona-Utah Local Economic Coalition co-chair Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson and co-chair Commissioner Alan Gardner of Washington County have met several times previously with opponents of the federal withdrawal to discuss the coalition’s next move toward securing uranium exploration and mining efforts linked to county’s Arizona Strip. The coalition includes officials from Mohave County and the counties of Kane, Washington, Garfield and San Juan in Utah...more