Interior Secretary Zinke traveled to Chico Hot Springs, Montana, on Monday to officially withdraw 30,000 acres near Yellowstone from new mining claims/NPCA

Tourism has trumped mining in a scenic valley just north of Yellowstone National Park that Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, following the lead of former Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, said would be off-limits to new mining claims for two decades.

Two years ago Secretary Jewell and Under Secretary of Agriculture Robert Bonnie traveled to Chico Hot Springs, Montana, just north of the park, to announce that the Obama adminstration would block new mining claims on 30,000 acres of U.S. Forest Service lands just north of the park. 

The "segregation" of the lands Jewell and Bonnie announced was to be in effect for two years while the Departments of Interior and Agriculture evaluated whether to withdraw this land from new mining claims for an additional 20 years.

“There are good places to mine for gold, but the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park is not one of them,” Secretary Jewell said at the time. “As we celebrate 100 years of the National Park Service, today’s action helps ensure that Yellowstone’s watershed, wildlife and the tourism-based economy of local communities will not be threatened by the impacts of mineral development.”

On Monday, Secretary Zinke finalized the withdrawal of the acreage mining for 20 years, subject to valid existing rights. This is the longest period possible under the secretary's authority, and there are efforts in Congress to pass legislation making the withdrawal permanent.

The area covered by this action is generally known as the historic Emigrant Gulch and Crevice mining districts in a region known as the Paradise Valley at the northern gates of Yellowstone.

“This incredible victory for our first national park reminds us all that Yellowstone is more precious and valuable than gold," said Theresa Pierno, president and CEO of the National Parks Conservation Association. "National Parks Conservation Association commends Agriculture Secretary Perdue and Interior Secretary Zinke for defending Yellowstone’s doorstep from industrial gold mining. Their decision reflects the will of many and confirms that national parks can be a common ground in divided times. The secretaries’ actions were informed and backed by sound science and robust public engagement led by U.S Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management staff."

Pierno also took the opportunity to remind Secretary Zinke that there are other places in the country that deserve similar protection.

"We encourage Secretary Zinke to continue to listen to those across the country who are fighting to protect their way of life and our national parks from desert water mining proposals, seas of oil and gas development and a myriad of other threats," she said. “We also urge Congress to build off this momentum and secure a permanent solution to protect the lands, water, and wildlife surrounding the world’s first national park by passing the bipartisan Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act.”

What remains to be seen is what effect, if any, Zinke's action has on existing mining claims in the forest. Lucky Minerals, Inc., wants to exercise its valid claims to more than 2,500 acres, some of which lie on Forest Service lands. The Canadian company in the past has applied to the state of Montana for a mining permit for almost 5 acres of private lands surrounded by the Custer Gallatin National Forest at the Emigrant Gulch site near Chico Hot Springs.

Another mine, proposed by the Crevice Mining Group, is for a 21-acre site of private lands surrounded by national forest within view of the Roosevelt Arch at Yellowstone's north entrance. 

At the press conference and signing ceremony Secretary Zinke, a former U.S. representative for Montana who in that role also worked to remove the lands from mining, voiced the opinion that the proposal by Lucky Minerals wasn't feasible.

"Access to public lands and water has allowed the Paradise Valley to build a world-class hunting, fishing, tourism and recreation economy," the secretary also said at the ceremony. "Whether it's enjoying the natural hot springs, fly fishing the Yellowstone, or hiking up Emigrant Peak, there's no shortage of ways to enjoy this beautiful region."

"I fully support multiple use of public lands, but multiple use is about balance and knowing that not all areas are right for all uses," he added. "There are places where it is appropriate to mine and places where it is not. Paradise Valley is one of the areas it's not. The 20-year withdrawal will set that land aside and allow the local tourism industry to grow. I'm thankful to Secretary Sonny Perdue and the local community for their continued work on this important issue."

On hand for the signing ceremony and applauding the move was Colin Davis, owner of Chico Hot Springs and founder of the Yellowstone Gateway Business Coalition.

“My heartfelt thanks go to Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke who has repeatedly made time to listen to our community since we first knocked on his office door over three years ago,” said Davis. “Today is a great day for the families and businesses in the Paradise Valley and paves the path toward permanent protection for the doorstep of Yellowstone National Park.”

Secretary Zinke's action came a week after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider a request to overturn a similar mining moratorium on lands near Grand Canyon National Park/Rebecca Latson file

In addition to helping safeguard the local tourism and recreation economy, the withdrawal also conserves important habitat for migrating big game species like elk and mule deer. 

The action taken by Secretary Zinke on Monday came a week after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider overturning a similar 20-year moratorium on uranium mining around Grand Canyon National Park. At issue there was more than 1 million acres surrounding the national park that was closed to new uranium mining claims.

Then-Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in 2009 placed a temporary moratorium on new mining claims on the landscape until threats to the canyon could be analyzed. Two years later, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management recommended the "full proposed withdrawal of approximately 1 million acres of BLM and Forest Service lands located near the national park from mining claim location and entry under the 1872 Mining Law for 20 years, subject to valid existing rights."

Secretary Salazar approved that move in January 2012.

After the mining industry challenged the withdrawal, a coalition of environmental groups intervenes and won a 2014 decision in the U.S. District Court in Arizona upholding it. Mining companies appealed the decision. In December, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ban as constitutional and ruled that the protected area was not too large, as mining companies had argued. The mining industry then appealed to the Supreme Court.