Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke Supports Mining Ban Outside Yellowstone National Park

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has thrown his weight behind a mining ban proposal in the Paradise Valley outside of Yellowstone National Park. According to the Flathead Beacon, Zinke announced through Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift that he is “fully in the corner of protecting the Paradise Valley.” Swift added that Zinke supports a 20-year withdrawal of mining claims for the region. In November 2016, the Interior placed a two-year ban on new mining claims on approximately 30,000 acres of land in the Paradise Valley adjacent to the Emigrant/Jardine sites. The Interior also began a two-year review of gold mining in the region. Zinke spoke out against mining outside Yellowstone as Montana’s at-large congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives, prior to his nomination as Interior Secretary. Zinke’s successor, Greg Gianforte (R), has likewise spoken out against mining outside Yellowstone. According to the Beacon, Zinke wants to “speed up” the proposal to ban gold mining outside Yellowstone. Further, he wants to expand the review to include oil and gas, coal and phosphate mining—with the expectation that these claims would also be barred...more