The U.S. Forest Service in July began a 30-day public comment period on its plan to review a rare-earth element mining project in northeast Wyoming — the only opportunity for the public to weigh in on the federal process that is being fast-tracked by the Trump administration.Colorado-based Rare Earth Resources plans to construct an open-pit mine at Bull Hill in the Black Hills National Forest 12 miles northwest of Sundance and about 22 miles from Devils Tower. Raw materials from the mine will be trucked to its “demonstration” processing plant near Upton.People with concerns about the mine’s implications for health, wildlife, exemptions to the Black Hills Forest management plan, air and water quality have until Friday to submit comments. Thirty days is precious little time to absorb a complex mining proposal and environmental review documents, Sundance resident Justin Johnson told WyoFile. He’s lived in the area for more than a decade, and the project’s fast-track nature came as a surprise.
“It was kind of hush-hush, in my opinion, as far as not much word about it around Sundance,” Johnson said. “All of a sudden, in July when it came to our attention, it’s like, ‘Holy cow. We got little time before the federal deadline to get our comments and concerns to the Forest Service.’”Crook County Commissioner John Davis acknowledged that locals are caught off guard with the expedited process.
