Tag Archives: Arizona

Bill targets state law enforcement in national forests

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Arizona Daily Sun 4/25/2013
Excerpt:      “PHOENIX — Under a state law that took effect in 2009, an Arizona Game and Fish Department officer enforcing hunting laws on federal land is supposed to stop someone from riding an off-highway vehicle in an area closed to OHV use.

To Jack Husted, chairman of the Arizona Game and Fish Commission, that requirement takes away from an officer’s duties, which also include enforcing state laws on fishing and boating safety.  “We don’t think that a federal rulemaking body should be able to make rules and make a state peace officer enforce those rules for them,” he said.  …”
Read entire article at http://azdailysun.com/news/local/state-and-regional/277eee0a-0cef-5617-8fc8-ca362b0f979e.html

4FRI environmental analysis available for public comment

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Williams News 4/9/2013
Excerpt:      “The U.S. Forest Service has published an environmental analysis for the first phase of the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI) project, and is now seeking public comment about the document.

The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) published March 29 proposes habitat enhancement, thinning and prescribed burning on one million acres of the Kaibab and Coconino national forests in the next 20 years. The DEIS will now undergo a 60-day public comment period.

The 4FRI project is the largest forest restoration project in the country, spanning 2.4 million acres within the Kaibab, Coconino, Tonto and Apache-Sitgreaves national forests. The project proposes restoration for 189,255 acres surrounding Williams.  ….”
Read entire article at http://www.williamsnews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubsectionID=1&ArticleID=13305

Congressman Wants To ‘Streamline’ Projects

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Payson Roundup 4/2/2013
Excerpt:       “Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Prescott) has once again introduced a bill designed to “streamline” environmental and administrative reviews when it comes to reviewing grazing leases and thinning projects to reduce wildfire risk.

Gosar, who represents northern Gila County, said the bill would reduce administrative delays for grazing and thinning permits that would reduce fuel loads. An identical bill died last year, but this year he has enlisted as a co-sponsor newly re-elected Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-Flagstaff), who represents southern Gila County.  …”
Read entire article at http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/2013/apr/02/congressman-wants-streamline-projects/

Environmentalist groups band together to stop uranium mining at Grand Canyon

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New York Daily News 4/1/2013
Excerpt:         “A Colorado mining company’s plans to restart operations at a Grand Canyon uranium mine have environmentalists and Native Americans crying foul.  The Sierra Club, the Center for Biological Diversity, Grand Canyon Trust Program, and the Havasupai Tribe have all filed suit against the U.S. Forest Service to try and stop Energy Fuels Resources from resuming uranium mining operations at Arizona’s Canyon Mine.

Despite a 20-year ban on uranium mining put in place by the Dept. of the Interior in 2012, Energy Fuel Resources’ claim to the land in the Kaibab National Forest, which borders Grand Canyon National Park and the Havasupai Reservation, was grandfathered into place.  …”
Read entire article at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/environmentalists-band-stop-grand-canyon-mining-article-1.1305114

U.S. Starts Massive Forest-Thinning Project

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Scientific American 3/22/2013
Excerpt:          “FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — The smell of wood-burning stoves seems to permeate this gateway to the Grand Canyon and pit stop on the legendary Route 66.

In this corner of the state, trees, wood and fire have an ever-evolving relationship. Surrounded by the Coconino National Forest, this northern Arizona town sat at the edge of the 2010 Schultz fire, which burned 15,000 acres.   While the Schultz fire visibly marked the landscape, the damage was relatively benign compared with the floods that came a month later.    ….”
Read entire article at  http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=us-starts-massive-forest-thinning-project

Tempers flare at hearing on Central Arizona copper mine

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Arizona Daily Star 3/22/2013
Excerpt:        “WASHINGTON – A four-hour congressional hearing grew testy Thursday as House members considered a bill to swap thousands of acres of private and federal land to make way for a massive copper mine in Central Arizona.  The bill to trade land near Superior with Resolution Copper Mining passed the House last year but stalled in the Senate, and is back now for its eighth year.

Supporters said the deal, which would give Resolution access to a copper-rich piece of government land, would bring thousands of jobs and more than $6 billion in new taxes to the state over 40 years of operation.  …”
Read entire article at http://azstarnet.com/business/local/292d86d5-90cf-5238-a816-6979598f05a6.html

Court upholds ban on uranium mining near Grand Canyon

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Summit County Voice 3/21/2013
Excerpt:      “FRISCO — A federal judge this week partly rebuffed the mining industry’s attempt to pursue speculative uranium claims in the Grand Canyon region, saying that Interior Secretary Ken Salazar acted within his authority when he ordered a temporary mining ban across more than 1 million acres.

The ban was adopted January 2012 to protect the Grand Canyon’s watersheds. The withdrawal prohibits new mining claims and development on old claims that lack “valid existing rights” to mine.   ….”
Read entire article at http://summitcountyvoice.com/2013/03/21/court-upholds-ban-on-uranium-mining-near-grand-canyon/#more-55391

Prescott National Forest boss Matthews leaving

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Daily Courier  3/17/2013
Excerpt:      “Prescott National Forest Supervisor Betty Mathews is leaving her post for a similar one in Georgia.  Mathews said she wants to be closer to her sister and mother in Georgia and South Carolina. She grew up in North Carolina.

Her last week on the Prescott Forest will be April 8, about two years after she came here.  “It’s been a wonderful community to work with,” Mathews said of the Prescott region. “I felt very welcome. People really care about their national forest. People love the outdoors here in Arizona.”    …..”
Read entire article at http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=117150

State Efforts To ‘Reclaim’ Our Public Lands Traced To Koch-Fueled ALEC

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Think Progress 3/11/2013
Excerpt:        “Despite the many problems that states and municipalities face today—from budget shortfalls to unemployment—seven western states have decided to embark on unconstitutional and quixotic battles attempting to force the federal government to turn millions of acres of public lands over to the states. Doing so, however, would result in the eventual exploitation for private profits of these beautiful parks, refuges, forests, and other lands because the leaders driving such efforts would prefer to see quick economic gains from resource extraction rather than prioritizing these areas’ more sustainable economic uses such as recreation.   …..”
Read rest of article at http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/03/11/1698221/state-efforts-to-reclaim-our-public-lands-traced-to-alec/?mobile=nc

Suit filed to block uranium mine

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Arizona Daily Sun 3/8/2013
Excerpt:     “The Havasupai Tribe and three conservation groups filed suit Thursday in an attempt to block the opening of a second uranium mine in the Grand Canyon region, this one about six miles south of the South Rim.

The Canyon Mine lies south of the town of Tusayan and has long been a source of division between would-be miners and area tribes and conservationists.  ….”
Read entire article at http://azdailysun.com/news/local/state-and-regional/suit-filed-to-block-uranium-mine/article_ed27fa2a-9186-5d5d-b6a9-76c0e190bf0e.html