BLM

The Mojave National Preserve was established in 1994, transferring oversight from the BLM to the Park Service.

As gold prices soared in the 1980s, the BLM and San Bernardino County agreed to allow the mineral rights holders to resume gold mining following review under the California Environmental Quality Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.

Shapiro said the mine would seek to restart mineral extraction activities, which were consistent with the plan for the mine approved by the BLM in 1985.

Officials who oversee the BLM contracts said that they are trying to make sure that spending approved under President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act comply with Trump’s executive orders.

California’s two U.S. senators, Alex Padilla and Adam Schiff, joined a dozen other Western senators in demanding that the BLM lift its hold on the wildland “treatment” contracts that pay private companies to remove brush and trees in fire-prone areas.