Three-thousand acres in Chugach off-limits to mining

by The Associated Press

The Chugach National Forest has asked that 3,000 acres of the forest be off-limits to mining to protect the Russian River, and the Interior Department has agreed.

The move is meant to protect the Russian River and upper Russian Lake Recreation Corridor from mining activities. The area is a popular recreation area that is heavily used and is considered an important salmon spawning area and brown bear habitat.

The withdrawal is in addition to an earlier one of more than 1,800 acres. That brings the total off-limit acreage to about 4,800 acres.

The new withdrawal borders the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Wilderness area. There are no mining claims within the boundaries of the withdrawal. The Interior Department said the land would remain off-limits to mining for 20 years.

According to the Forest Service, there are small limestone deposits within the withdrawn areas. However, an examination determined that the limestone was not feasible to mine and therefore are not valuable.

The land will remain open to the public.

Carol Huber, with the Forest Service, said the withdrawal effectively removes the territory from claims staking and mining.

“If there were valuable mineral deposits there, we'd be looking at this differently,” Huber said. “We're not anti-mining.”