Nevada governor seeks change in sage grouse mining rule

[alp227]

Source: AP

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The governor of gold-rich Nevada is pressing the Obama administration to alter its sage grouse protection plan to free up thousands of mining claims by shrinking the restricted area in exchange for making other unprotected areas off limits, restoring burned out rangeland and reining in wild horse herds.

Gov. Brian Sandoval maintains his alternative would exclude only about 6 percent of the federal land the government has temporarily withdrawn from future mineral development in Nevada. Previously unverified mining claims in the state are effectively frozen across 4,200 square miles — a swath nearly as large as Connecticut.

The moderate Republican wants to swap about one-fifth of the withdrawn area, some 555,000 acres, for 394,000 alternative acres he says contain higher quality habitat more critical to the survival of the imperiled bird, according to interviews with his aides and documents obtained by The Associated Press.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell decided in September the greater sage grouse didn't warrant Endangered Species Act protection across 11 western states, where its numbers once totaling an estimated 16 million have dwindled to as few as 200,000.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/8ad7fd86521f42aba7e3f017c9fca290/ap-newsbreak-nevada-seeks-change-sage-grouse-mining-rule

[PumpkinAle]

1. They won't be happy until the Sage Grouse have gone the way of the DoDo.

[Wellstone ruled]

2. Just a free be for the Mining

Industry. This Guy is such a fake,there tons of Claims that are setting idle. The next major Gold Mine has already been sited.

[houston16revival]

3. My guess is this is something that goes through

Swaps are pretty common

Hopefully some modified version that's not made of Swiss cheese

for future administrations to crawl through

[Bayard]

4. That "reining in wild horse herds part" concerns me.

Does anyone really think they're going to move animals/birds to the "new area". Horses are relatively easy to round up, but how are you going to do that with birds?

Equine slaughterhouses were closed in the U.S., but they are still in business in Canada and Mexico. I'm afraid that's where these mustangs will end up. Last I heard, they were still going for about 60 cents a pound.....