The Biden administration is moving to lock up hundreds of thousands of acres of land weeks before he is set to leave office.
The Department of the Interior (DOI) announced on Monday a slate of environmental rules for Nevada’s Ruby Mountains, including banning energy development along a large portion of the range for the next 20 years.
“The Ruby Mountains are cherished by local communities for their scenic value, cultural heritage, numerous wildlife and benefit to the local economy through a thriving outdoor recreation industry,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement. “Today, we are taking an important and sensible step to pause new oil and gas leasing to ensure that we have the science and public input necessary to inform proposed protections of the Ruby Mountains area for future generations.”
The announcement coincided with a notice to the Federal Register that initiates a 90-day public comment period for the proposed withdrawal of 264,000 acres of land from potential geothermal and oil and gas development for 20 years, the maximum length of time the Interior Secretary can lock up land. Permanent bans on federal land require an act of Congress.
The withdrawal notice does not otherwise regulate mining over the area, according to the press release. Nevada is a well-known source of gold deposits, being one of the top-producing regions of gold in the world.
Alongside the Ruby Mountain withdrawal, the DOI also announced the purchase of a 640-acre, equivalent to a square mile, parcel of land from Wyoming within the Grand Teton National Park. The purchase also came with permanent environmental bans over the piece of land.
“Today marks an incredible milestone, decades in the making, to permanently protect an essential wildlife migration corridor and treasured landscape within Grand Teton National Park,” Haaland said. “This will benefit our public lands and Wyoming’s public school students for generations to come.”
