BLm - Bureau of Land Management

Environmental Impact Statement

FLPMA - Federal Land Policy Management Act

NEPA - National Environmental Policy Act

RFRA - Religious Freedom Restoration Act

Environmental Justice Case of South Fork Band Council of Western Shoshone of Nevada v. U.S. Department of Interior

Detailed background history of the case

The subject refers to a prospective gold-mining project in the Western Shoshone sacred site of the Cortez Mining District, situated in Lander County, Nevada, near Mt. Tenabo. With gold mining an important industry since 1950, in Lander County, and the identification of two new gold sources near the existing Cortez Mine, Cortez proposed an elaborate 850 acre additional mining facility, which would involve Cyanide heap-leach processing and de-watering of ground water to prevent the mines from getting flooded. The total additional acreage concerned were 6,571 acres of public land and 221 acres belonging to Cortez (FindLaw, n.d.).

When...
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