NMBHA recently submitted comments opposing a planned dolomite mine on BLM land in the Florida Mountains – ground zero for New Mexico’s unique ibex hunt and adjacent to the Florida Mountains Wilderness Study Area. The mine’s environmental assessment gave short shrift to ibex hunting and ignored other hunts in the area completely, saying the mine would have negligible impact. We believe it will. The plan calls for operating the open-pit mine five days a week, 52 weeks a year, for 20 years, including nearly 100 heavy truck loads daily, massive explosions once a month and tapping that arid corner of the state for some 30 million gallons of water a year. BLM is now reviewing the comments and will likely make a decision on permitting the mine after that is complete.
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