mining

Randy Newberg writes, "Congress is considering a fast-track move that could open the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness to a massive copper-sulfide mine by overturning a 20-year leasing moratorium."

The U.S. government currently defines about 60 critical minerals that are essential to economic or national security and that have supply chains vulnerable to disruption.

David Ward writes, "There are better ways to strengthen domestic critical mineral supply without risky mines like Sheep Creek."

Hillel Aron (CN) — Arizona elected officials asked a Ninth Circuit panel Tuesday to allow them to sue the federal government over a newly designated national monument near the Grand Canyon. In 2023, former President Joe Biden signed an executive order creating the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni Grand Canyon National Monument, protecting three large chunks of land adjacent to the Grand Canyon from any

In the years leading up to Colorado statehood, nearly all of the territory’s western half still belonged to the Ute people, who had inhabited the northern Colorado Plateau for centuries.

Bill Pfeiffer writes, "There are better ways to strengthen domestic critical mineral supply without risky mines like Sheep Creek."

The House of Representatives, spurred by Rep. Ryan Zinke, voted to override a 3-year-old Interior Department order that temporarily banned copper sulfide mining in the headwaters of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Legislators are asking for federal funding to mine rare-earth metals and critical elements in Montana, but some want to limit the funding to specific types of projects.

Another developer is poised to open a gravel pit in the Blackfoot watershed, so another community group has formed to stop the state and the county from approving it.

Conservationists and Nez Perce Tribe continue to challenge mine located at edge of Frank Church wilderness.