Zinke to make ‘major’ conservation announcement near Yellowstone

The Interior Department is expected to extend a ban on new mining claims in the mountains north of Yellowstone National Park early next week. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will be in Pray on Monday to make an announcement regarding “long-term conservation of the area,” according to an Interior Department release sent Thursday. The release said Zinke will appear with members of the business community and conservationists and that he’ll be signing documents, but it didn’t specify what the announcement would be. Locals and conservationists expect Zinke will announce an extension of a ban on new mining claims on 30,000 acres of public lands in the mountains north of Yellowstone near where two companies have proposed exploratory drilling in recent years. A two-year ban ordered by the Obama administration in 2016 expires in November. The U.S. Forest Service recommended last month that the Interior Department block new claims in the area for 20 years. Zinke has signaled that he would support such a ban. He has opposed mining proposals in the area since he was a Montana congressman. Several supporters of the mineral withdrawal have been invited to the event, which is not open to the general public...MORE