But when other public land was identified for such an exchange, and before it could be withdrawn, the holder of the claims in the Oregon Dunes filed mining claims on that other land, making it impossible to use them for the exchange. It was to avoid a repeat of these situations that we recently acted in the Rocky Mountain Front and north of the Grand Canyon. Let me now provide a little more detail on each. The area nevertheless remained open to location of mining claims under the Mining Law. Indeed, a number of new mining claims were located in the area in 1996, while the Forest Service was considering the land use plan amendment affecting oil and gas leasing decisions on the Forest.
Publication segregates the land temporarily for up to two years.
Congress almost included much of it in Grand Canyon National Park when it enlarged the Park in 1975, but took it out in the final stages of the legislative process because of objections from hunting and livestock interests. As you know, late last fall I began to evaluate this area for possible protection under the Antiquities Act, which could be done in a way to allow grazing and hunting to continue. The area has never seen any significant mineral development, and there are only a handful of mining claims there now. Being exceedingly mindful of the unhappy experience with Ralph Cameron on the other side of the Grand Canyon, I determined that it would be foolish to invite a repeat of that experience. Publication had the effect of segregating the area temporarily.