A group of environmental organizations is filing suit against Coronado National Forest in an attempt to halt exploration drilling on the Hardshell silver prospect [Right, location map. Credit, Wildcat Silver] by Wildcat Silver subsidiary Arizona Minerals on federal lands near the southern Arizona town of Patagonia.
The groups also want the Forest Service to require a full Environmental Impact Study done before drilling could commence. An EIS is normally only required if an actual mine is proposed to be developed. They claim the exploration area is a corridor for jaguars and ocelots. However, Wildcat rep Greg Lucero is quoted as saying "there has not been a jaguar sighting in the area in a half century, and that there has never been a sighting of an ocelot in the Patagonia Mountains."
I don't think that Mr. Lucero has ever ventured into the Patagonia Mts.. He is the Sustainability director for Wilcat Silver but does not have one single credental in environmental science or ecology. He is just a paid lobbist.
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