U.S. Sen. Mark Begich issued the following statement after U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Undersecretary Harris Sherman approved mining exploration in designated roadless areas for three projects in the Tongass National Forest. The USDA advised Friday that Sherman had approved the 2012 projects for the Niblack, Kensington, and Herbert Glacier mines in Southeast Alaska:

“I applaud the decision by the U.S. Forest Service and USDA to quickly conduct roadless reviews and issue approvals for 2012 mineral exploration permits for the Niblack, Kensington, and Hebert Glacier minerals projects.

“These are important projects for Alaska and with our short summer work season, the permitting process needs to move along quickly.

“I appreciate Forest Chief Tom Tidwell and Undersecretary Sherman for being receptive to my support for mining projects in Southeast Alaska and my requests to make sure they don’t get bogged down in bureaucratic red tape.

“Each of the projects went through a public notice and comment period and, although no comments were received, USDA still needed to review the proposed activities relative to the roadless rule. They did so in a timely manner, and now we can move forward and keep Alaska’s economy growing and creating good jobs.”

In early April, Sen. Begich wrote to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging that immediate steps be taken to assure that a recent court case in California regarding the process needed to approve categorically excluded activities in national forests did not unduly delay reasonable and responsible projects such as these. Alaska’s short summer work season requires a timely permitting process for these routine activities.

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