Source: Phoenixnewtimes.com
Billboards asking Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to maintain a 2012 moratorium on Grand Canyon uranium mining went up in Phoenix on Monday.
by
Arizona sporting groups are targeting Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in a publicity campaign to head off a possible rollback of an Obama-era ban on new mining claims around the Grand Canyon.
On Monday, the Arizona Wildlife Federation and Trout Unlimited unveiled two Phoenix billboards that call on Zinke to save Grand Canyon from uranium mining, citing the industry’s hazards for water and wildlife.
The Trump administration has signaled that it may revisit the Interior Department’s 2012 moratorium on new mining claims, known as a mineral withdrawal, that protects over 1 million acres of public lands for 20 years. (Existing mining claims were not affected.)
Ending the moratorium “just doesn’t pass the common-sense test,” said Scott Garlid, the conservation director for the AWF.
“You look at the benefits of mining for uranium up in that area, and they’re relatively small,” he said. “There’s going to be a few additional jobs, but not very many, and certainly not as many as the outdoor and recreation industries … We’re not making America great again by doing uranium mining around the Grand Canyon.”
Because much of the hydrology of the Grand Canyon region is unknown, Garlid argued that it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where a uranium mining incident could contaminate water sources for the nearby Havasupai Tribe and other communities along the Grand Canyon watershed.
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Straight from the Horse's Heart 
“The public has repeatedly said that they don’t want uranium mining in the Grand Canyon watershed,” said Marc Fink, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Uranium mining simply doesn’t belong here, period.”
https://earthjustice.org/news/press/2018/uranium-mining-industry-seeks-supreme-court-review-to-overturn-mining-ban-that-protects-grand-canyon-region
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He is a busy guy, going to get all he can while he can. Not doing the President any favors and he had better wake up, Crooks only get so far, and when it involves the lives of the Wild Animals, Mustangs etc, they are living beings and people are up in arms about it!!! Cattle & Sheep, Uranium, Oil, property, water, Wild animals for Trophies, lobbing, OMG this man is trouble!!!!
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From COUNTERPUNCH
Raising the Flag on the Corruption of Ryan Zinke
by LENA MOFFITT
MAY 11, 2018
Like Pruitt, Ryan Zinke is misusing taxpayer dollars, promoting industries he’s supposed to regulate, and remaining completely opaque when it comes to decision-making. He deserves as much media and congressional scrutiny as Pruitt.
The Interior Department is supposed to be the steward of our country’s “lands, water, wildlife, and energy resources,” according to its mission statement. But Zinke’s actions toward U.S. national parks and public lands show where his alliances truly rest: with the fossil fuel industry.
And if his attacks on the environment aren’t enough, Zinke also has a host of ethical problems — including questionable travel expenses with private jets and helicopter rides paid for with wildfire-fighting funding. In fact, there have been at least four internal investigations reviewing Zinke’s tenure at Interior.
Finally, Zinke has created a hostile environment in the workplace. He’s told staff that diversity isn’t important. He’s transferred women, Native Americans, blacks, and Latinos out of their jobs in an attempt to get them to quit.
Ryan Zinke isn’t interested in what’s best for national parks and public lands. He should be removed, or he should step down immediately.
His decisions will have irreversible impacts, but it’s not too late to try and clean up the mess he’s already made.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2018/05/11/the-corruption-of-ryan-zinke/
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