By Dan Pancamo | Cronkite News
Federal officials have pulled back approval for exploratory mine drilling in the Coronado National Forest after receiving what one official described as new information on a threatened bird in the area.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service extended threatened status to the yellow-billed cuckoo in October – more than a month after the U.S. Forest Service had given Regal Resources the go-ahead to drill for evidence of copper in the Patagonia area of the forest.
The Fish and Wildlife Service in December withdrew its concurrence in the project. That led the Forest Service to pull its approval last week, according to a Jan. 9 letter from the district ranger for the forest service.
No activity can take place on the so-called Sunnyside project “until after consultation is concluded” and a new decision is issued, Sierra Vista District Ranger Mark Ruggiero said in the letter.
Forest Service officials did not respond to requests for comment, and a spokesman for Regal said Thursday that the mining company would not comment on the issue.
An opponent of the mine this week welcomed the regulators’ reversal, but she was skeptical that it would mean the end of the Sunnyside project in the long run.
