BLM panel wants northern Arizona lands open to mining claims

"The Bureau of Land Management's Resource Advisory Council voted 9 to 2 to recommend to U.S. Department of Interior that more than 1 million acres of land surrounding the Grand Canyon remain open to mining claims," according to a story in the Kingman Daily Miner.



We had heard reports of this but Mohave County Supervisor Buster Johnson issued a press release after attending a RAC meeting last week.



The article says the Advisory Board is concerned that the Obama administration will designate the acreage as wildlands using the Antiquities Act to bypass action under consideration by Congress to lift the Secretary of Interior's withdrawal of the lands. [right, withdrawal blocks outlined in red. Credit, BLM]