U.S. Interior Department

U.S. to ease oil drilling controls that protect greater sage grouse

Associated Press

BILLINGS, Mont. — The Trump administration recently moved forward with plans to ease restrictions on oil and natural gas drilling, mining and other activities across millions of acres in the American West that were put in place to protect an imperiled bird species. Land management documents released by the U.S. Interior Department show the administration intends to open more public…

Interior Department renews leases for Minnesota mine project

Associated Press

Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness and its partners in the Campaign to Save the Boundary Waters plan to challenge the decision in court, Doug Niemela, the group’s executive director, said in a statement. He said the department failed to consider the environmental damage of developing a large mining district on the edge of the Boundary Waters. (U.S. Forest Service photo)MINNEAPOLIS —…

Feds keep proposed Minnesota copper mine plan alive

Associated Press

(Photo by Brian Peterson)ST. PAUL, Minn. — President Donald Trump’s administration has resurrected an effort to build a proposed copper-nickel mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area in northeastern Minnesota. In an opinion published Friday, a top attorney at the U.S. Interior Department concluded that the Bureau of Land Management erred last December when it determined that it had…