U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

The Department of the Interior published notice of the agencies’ application for withdrawal on September 24, 2015, beginning what is known as a segregation of the lands that lasts for two years.  This segregation, which lasts up to two years until the Secretary decides whether to make the withdrawal, prohibits the location and entry of new mining claims in the designated areas.   The proposed withdrawal would affect most metallic mineral deposits, industrial minerals and uncommon varieties of stone.  The withdrawal would not affect mineral leasing, such as for oil or gas, or mineral material sales.  “Mining Claims and Sites on Federal Land” offers more information on this topic.

Neither the segregation nor the proposed withdrawal, if approved, prohibits any other authorized uses on these lands, such as grazing, recreation, OHV use, or development of leasable solid minerals, mineral materials, oil and gas, or geothermal resources.

• Map of the September 24, 2015 proposed mineral withdrawal.
• For maps of the Amended Proposed Withdrawal, select your area of interest from the linked map. The extent of the amended proposed withdrawal is detailed by legal description (Exhibit B). The maps are provided for reference only.
• To view the amended proposed withdrawal legal description, click below:
• Exhibit A: NV Alternative Additions
• Exhibit B: Amended Proposed Withdrawal
• For Geographic Information System (GIS) data for the Amended Proposed Withdrawal and Draft EIS, click here.

• The BLM has prepared a Draft EIS, which is available for review here. Request a CD of the Draft EIS here.
• Fact Sheet on Proposed Withdrawal from Mineral Entry in Sagebrush Focal Areas
• Federal Register Notice
• Comments are due March 30, 2017. You can submit your comments by email here. Alternatively, public meetings have been scheduled during the comment period. A list of dates and locations is available here. Get information about how to submit a comment, and how comments will be addressed here.
• The Draft EIS considers the impacts of a range of alternatives from changing the configuration and acreage of the withdrawal or not implementing the withdrawal (the “No Action” Alternative).
• To view a map of the Proposed Action, the NV Alternative, the ID Alternative 1 or ID Alternative 2 select them here. For maps of the High Mineral Potential Alternative, select your area of interest from the linked map.
• For Geographic Information System (GIS) data for the Amended Proposed Withdrawal and Draft EIS click here.

Based on the comments to the Draft EIS from our cooperators and the public, we will prepare a Final EIS and a Record of Decision (ROD) implementing that statement.  When the Final EIS and ROD are completed they will be available here.

If, after completing the analysis and associated public participation process, the Secretary decides to approve the withdrawal, it could be put in place for a maximum of 20 years.  The withdrawal would not prohibit ongoing or future mining exploration or extraction operations on valid pre-existing claims.  Neither the segregation nor the proposed withdrawal would prohibit any other authorized uses on these lands.