DENVER – President Joe Biden’s administration announced on Monday that it is considering protecting more than 260,000 acres of federal land in Nevada’s Ruby Mountain area from new mining for the next 20 years. In August 2023, Sens. Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto sent a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, urging the Department of the Interior to protect the Ruby Mountains and the surrounding Ruby Marshes wetlands from oil and gas leasing.
The area is habitat for mule deer, mountain goats, bighorn sheep and Himalayan Snowcock. Brook, rainbow, and threatened Lahontan Cutthroat Trout swim in the waters of the lakes and streams. The Ruby Marshes wetlands provide an important stopover for migratory waterfowl during their fall pilgrimage. It is also a destination for hunting, fishing and birding.
The announcement will be followed by a 90-day public comment period. The Forest Service and Department of Interior will then determine whether to finalize the 20-year protection.
Environment America Public Lands Director Ellen Montgomery issued the following statement:
“We commend the Biden administration for making this move. There’s a reason these mountains are nicknamed Nevada’s “Swiss Alps.” This wild, mountainous landscape with peaks that reach above 10,000 feet, dotted with pristine alpine lakes, hanging valleys and year-round snowfields is irreplaceable. Lands such as these are certainly not worth permanently scarring in order to pump out more and more fossil fuels.”
