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The McCoy Flats located southeast of Vernal, Utah have become a popular mountain biking destination. The network of trails sits at the intersection of Utah's extractive industries past and its recreation-focused future as tensions mount around public use of state trust lands.
The intent of state trust lands is to generate revenue for schools, which typically means oil and gas development. The School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA) worries that the more the agency works to accommodate mountain bike trails the more difficult it will be to eventually switch gears and develop mineral resources.
In addition to mountain biking, hunters and anglers use the area to hunt for game and fish. While the state has a legal obligation to develop state trust lands, the SITLA will have to carefully consider what they are taking away from the public if such an opportunity arises.
Rosemont Mine construction likely delayed to 2023
Hudbay Minerals, Inc, the company behind the proposed Rosemont Mine in southern Arizona said construction will likely be delayed until 2023 due to litigation around the controversial project. The company hopes to develop an open pit copper mine just southeast of Tucson.
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I will continue to work in a bipartisan way on this issue, because the Trump administration should not be deliberately weakening the BLM and upending the lives of the dedicated staff who work there.”
