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Posted by Traveling Bear (71.212.252.71) on 22:48:16 10/14/16
In Reply to: Concept of Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem posted by Ballpark Frank
There have been several recent reports that foreign mining firms are pushing for exploratory drilling in both the Jardine and Emigrant Gulch areas. So this is like a Whack-a-Mole game around the GYE - stop it in Cooke City and it pops up in other areas that saw gold mining activity in the past.
We also saw this sort of thing with attempted hydrothermal exploitation outside the park boundaries.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has an open comment period regarding this drilling. Of course if gold is found, then all bets are off as far as the size of the extraction operation that could result.
Montana Senator John Testor has gone on record as opposed to this - mainly because of the vocal input he has received from local business and sportsman interests opposing these plans.
It really galls me that our ancient mining laws not only allow but encourage this sort of thing by making it easy for even foreign corporations to file claims on land for their profit, regardless of the proximity to sensitive areas.
Some times land becomes more valuable to the public for other purposes than mineral extraction but we seem to be held hostage to those that know how to play the system to make a profit.
I don't want to see us have to pay a ransom for these claims so why not deny them in the first place? Contact your congresspeople and let them know what you think.
Here is a link to the Yellowstone Insider site which has the articles and a link to the Montana DEQ public comment form on the October 14 article. The deadline is December 12, 2016 for public comments.
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