NEWS RELEASE 
 
 
 
 
 
FOR RELEASE:                               CONTACT: 
June 14, 1995                              Randy Showstack, 
10 a.m., Eastern Time                      Tom Cassidy, 
                                           American Rivers, 
                                           (202) 547-6900 
 
            Congressman Richardson Introduces Legislation  
                 to Block Proposed New World Gold Mine 
 
   Act to Establish Yellowstone Headwaters National Recreation
Area Would Protect Yellowstone from Proposed Mine 
 
Congressman Bill Richardson (D-NM) today introduced legislation
to establish the Yellowstone Headwaters National Recreation Area. 
The legislation is designed to protect the mountains upstream of
Yellowstone National Park and the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone
National Wild and Scenic River, by withdrawing them from new
mining claims and patents, blocking new mining activity on
federal lands, and cleaning up pollution from previous mining
activity. 
 
"The proposed New World Mine will be blocked by this
legislation," said Tom Cassidy, General Counsel of American
Rivers, the nation's principal river conservation organization.  
 
 
"American Rivers appreciates Representative Bill Richardson's
leadership in the fight to preserve the mountains upstream of
Yellowstone National Park from the most notorious mine in
America," said Cassidy.  "The Yellowstone Headwaters National
Recreation Area will provide, for the first time, a national
mandate to manage these lands for the benefit of the American 
public, not a foreign-owned multi-national mining conglomerate."
 
 
"The legislation recognizes that the proposed New World Mine
presents 'a clear and present danger' to the Greater Yellowstone
Ecosystem and that it is in the public interest to protect these
lands from proposed mining activities," said Cassidy. 
 
"Congress should not sit helplessly by while a foreign concern
exploits our most precious natural resources and threatens the
world's first National Park," said Cassidy.  "Passage of this
legislation should not be a partisan issue; it can be a common
goal of all Americans, regardless of political party.  We urge
Speaker Gingrich and the House leadership to immediately 
schedule a hearing and vote on this important national issue," he
said.    
                                     (MORE) 
 
 
 
 
 
American Rivers News Release, June 14, 1995, Page 2 
 
This legislation will protect the superlative natural resource
values of the mountains upstream of Yellowstone National Park,
the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone National Wild and Scenic River
and the Absaroka-Beartooth National Wilderness Area.   The area
is the headwaters of three great river systems, Soda Butte Creek
which flows through Yellowstone National Park and into the Lamar
River; Daisy Creek, which flows into the Stillwater River and the
Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, and; Fisher Creek, which flows
into the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River and the
Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. 
 
The legislation, which has bipartisan support from more than 20 
original cosponsors, would establish the Yellowstone Headwaters 
National Recreation Area within Montana's Gallatin and Custer
National Forests.  The recreation area, comprising approximately
24,000 acres, will be administered by the United States Forest
Service.  It is designed to maintain and enhance traditional
recreation use of the area, including use for such activities as
hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and snowmobiling. 
 
The legislation would also prohibit the location of new mining
claims, mineral and geothermal leasing; prohibit issuance of new
patents for mining claims in the recreation area; prohibit the
use of federal lands in connection with any mining or
mining-related activity within the recreation area; and require
an expedited review of the validity of all unpatented mining
claims within 3 years. 
 
The legislation would also prohibit any federal permit for mining
or mining related activity within the recreation area until
previous mining related environmental damage that has occurred on
lands owned or used by the permit applicant, or any person who
controls, is controlled by or under common control with such
permit applicant, has been cleaned up in accordance with
applicable federal and state law.  
 
Crown Butte Mines, Inc., a Montana corporation completely owned
by a web of Canadian corporations, including Noranda, Inc., a
multi-billion dollar, multi-national conglomerate, is proposing
to build this mine.  
 
On June 2, President Clinton expressed strong concern about the 
proposed mine, in his first public comment on the issue.  Clinton
said he is "very worried about [the mine] because of the site,"
and that "no amount of gain that could come from [the mine] could
possibly offset any permanent damage to Yellowstone."   
 
In April, American Rivers named the Clarks Fork of the
Yellowstone River as the most endangered river in North America
for the second year in a row, because of the threat posed by the
mine. 
 
For more information, contact American Rivers, (202) 547-6900;
Bob Ekey, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, (406) 586-1593; Jim
Barrett, Beartooth Alliance, (406) 838-2348. 
 
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