Decision 18 BUR VI.B

Yellowstone (United States of America)

The Delegate of the United States informed the Bureau about a report concerning Yellowstone National Park, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978. The Park is faced with a proposed mining project of a gold mine two miles north of the northeast boundary of the site. The area concerned is both public and private with 20% under the administration of the US Forest Service. The mine would remove 56 acres of wetlands to build an artificial lake and would call for construction of access roads and housing for the workers. The economic value of the project is estimated at US$ 1 billion in recoverable gold, silver and copper. The mine sits at the head of three drainages, one of which, Soda Butte Creek, flows into the National Park. Thus, potential threats would be the degradation of surface and ground water, the changes in water quantity, as well as the displacement of wildlife and other disturbances. The Delegate underlined that the United States will keep the Committee and its Bureau informed about further developments. The Observer from Canada stressed that the Canadian Government will check about direct or indirect Government-support for the parent company of the proposed mine.