Forest Service taking comments on mining road in Frank Church wilderness

Here’s a news item from the Associated Press: BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is taking public comments on its approval of a gold mining company’s plan to reopen a road in a central Idaho wilderness and drill core samples to find out if its claims are profitable enough to be mined. Public comments are being taken through Feb. 23 on American Independence Mines and Minerals Co.’s plan in the Frank Church River Of No Return Wilderness. Federal authorities require claim holders to prove claims are profitable before mining starts. The 45-page Draft Record of Decision filed Friday and first reported by the Idaho Statesman notes that the company already has three claims validated as profitable in the Payette National Forest. The Forest Service says mining is allowed in the wilderness due to negotiations leading up to the wilderness designation.