Nation IN BRIEF : WYOMING : Yellowstone Gold Mine Plans Opposed

Environmental organizations asked Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt to block plans to develop a gold mine three miles from Yellowstone National Park. Arguing that the mine would devastate the region’s delicate ecosystem, the groups--including American Rivers Inc. and Trout Unlimited Inc.--called on Babbitt to bar the federal government from selling the 27-acre mining site to Crown Butte Mines Inc. of Canada. Under provisions of the 1872 Mining Act, the company has obtained mining rights over hundreds of acres in the federal forest and has submitted a development plan that is under review.