Obama plan would bar new mining to protect chest-puffing grouse
The Obama administration teed up plans to block hard-rock mining on as much as 10 million acres in the western U.S. to protect the greater sage grouse, setting up a test for President-elect Donald Trump on how he will weigh business interests and the environment.
The final decision about whether to block activity under new mining claims in the sagebrush territory across six western states rests with Trump but may be influenced by the draft environmental analysis and proposal expected to be issued Thursday.
The U.S. Department of the Interior determined last year that the greater sage grouse did not warrant listing as an endangered species but unveiled land-use plans meant to protect prickly sagebrush seen as critical to the survival of the chicken-like bird known for its colorful courtship ritual. The agency’s Bureau of Land Management also proposed a potentially two-decade ban on new mineral exploration and mining claims in the “sagebrush focal areas” while it studied the environmental effects of the activity.
As part of that review, the bureau studied its original proposal as well as several others, including a suggestion from Nevada to swap in some 388,000 acres of sagebrush territory in exchange for removing 488,000 acres believed to be rich in minerals. The agency also analyzed a proposal to remove 539,000 acres with at least moderate mineral potential in Idaho and an approach that would keep most areas open to mining.
The action Thursday opens a 90-day public comment period set to run through March 30, 2017. If the Trump administration decides to follow through with any of the mineral withdrawal proposals, future exploration or extraction operations would still be allowed under any valid pre-existing claims.
It is unclear how Trump might approach the issue or how it would be viewed by his Interior Secretary nominee, Ryan Zinke, a hunter and first-term congressman from Montana. The sage grouse is viewed as an umbrella species whose health acts as an indicator for other animals that depend on similar habitat.
The bird is known for its showy mating rituals, with the male grouse puffing out its chest, spreading its spiky brown tail feathers and strutting around in a bid to entice females.