Republican Congressman Jeff Flake, who represents Arizona’s Sixth District, is including language in the House Interior Appropriations bill that would prevent the Obama Administration from withdrawing nearly one million acres of public and National Forest System lands north and south of the Grand Canyon to new uranium mining claims and exploration. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar halted new mining claims for two years in 2009 and federal agencies have undertaken an environmental analysis of the effects of withdrawing the land. After extending the ban on new claims for another six months two weeks ago, the Secretary announced that the preferred alternative is to implement a 20-year withdrawal.
“The Obama Administration is stepping on Arizona’s economy and overstepping in terms of government regulations by banning new uranium mining claims in Northern Arizona,” said Flake.
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