The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has proposed to expand a refuge in Georgia, jeopardizing a nearby mining project that is moving through the state permitting process. The project already has faced significant regulatory uncertainty from federal agencies, and the proposed refuge expansion appears to be another effort to stop the project. With national refuges in all 50 states, projects nationwide could face similar challenges in the future. AGC joined in with other industry groups to decry this precedent.
In October, the FWS proposed to expand the boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to encompass the nearby mining project that the Service has repeated opposed. As the comments state, there are more than 571 national wildlife refuges across the country encompassing 95 million land acres and 760 million marine acres. AGC and others in the coalition urged the Service to withdraw the refuge boundary acquisition due to concerns about federal overreach.
For more information, contact Melinda Tomaino at melinda.tomaino@agc.org.