[Nevada] Mining Not Major Threat To Sage Grouse, Says Mining Association – by Casey Morell (Nevada Public Radio – December 22, 2015)

http://knpr.org/

The battle over the sage grouse continues.

The National Mining Association, a group representing mining companies, is protesting the federal government’s plan to protect the sage grouse.

Specifically, the group does not want the Bureau Of Land Management to protect the bird on land that can be mined for gold and minerals.

“I think our major concern is the proposed withdrawal of 10 million acres of land from mining operations,” said Katie Sweeney, senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, National Mining Association.

“Our concern there is a lot of that area is of high mineral potential and we would be putting it off limits perhaps permanently, when mining has not been identified by the Department of the Interior as a major threat to the sage grouse.”

Sweeney said that mining actually improves the habitat for sage grouse because of reclamation efforts done after a mining operation is finished.

She also said the environmental studies that must be done before mining can begin will help protect the birds.

For the rest of this article, click here: http://knpr.org/knpr/2015-12/mining-not-major-threat-sage-grouse-says-mining-association