Yellowstone Gold Mining: Interior Secretary Urges Ban

BILLINGS, MT — U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke wants to accelerate a proposal to block new gold mining claims on forested public land near Yellowstone National Park, and might block other mining as well.

The Interior Department is undergoing a two-year review launched by Zinke's predecessor following concerns about two gold mines proposed in the forests that border Yellowstone.

Interior spokeswoman Heather Swift said Monday that Zinke is "fully in the corner of protecting the Paradise Valley" outside Yellowstone and supports a proposed 20-year withdrawal of mining claims. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Zinke also is asking his staff to expand the agency's review to include other minerals such as oil and gas, coal, and phosphate.

Of those minerals, geologists say only phosphate is found in the Yellowstone region in volumes that would support mining.

By MATTHEW BROWN, Associated Press

Photo credit: Matthew Brown/Associated Press