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Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Reformed Mining Act Vital To Protecting West
By Tom Battin, Chairman
Lincoln County Board of Commissioners
Perhaps no other group of people can attest to how important it is to have local input into mining decisions on public lands than the citizens of Lincoln County.
Faced with a possible gold mine on U.S. Forest Service land in the Capitan Mountains, the Lincoln County Commissioners spoke out with a unanimous voice June 17, passing a resolution asking for a comprehensive update of the antiquated 1872 Mining Act.
The Mining Act of 1872 was signed 136 years ago by President Ulysses S. Grant in order to lure more settlement to the western United States by giving gold and other taxpayer-owned minerals away for free and selling public land for as little as $2.50 an acre. Incredibly, this law still governs mining on our public lands today. As a result, mining still has automatic priority status over all other uses of our public lands.
Today, when our clean water supplies, wildlife habitat, hunting, fishing, recreation and other uses of public land are more important to our economy and way of life each year, it is critical for Congress to update the 1872 Mining Act.
Last fall, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to reform the 1872 Mining Act. The new bill ends mining's priority status when it comes to public land management. It puts the cleanup onus on the industry, not the American public, which can't afford to reclaim played-out mines.
It also ends forever the practice of "patenting," which allows mining interests to actually acquire public land for as little as $2.50 an acre.
Finally, the bill requires the industry to pay a royalty on the commodity it pulls from the ground. This last item is important, as every other extractive industry on public land in the United States pays a royalty for the commodities they produce—this simply levels the playing field, ending the giveaway of gold and other hardrock minerals, generating revenue for cleanup of abandoned mines and creating jobs in the process.
The U.S. Senate is now considering passing its own version of reform. The Lincoln County Board of Commissioners is doing its part to promote reform of this antiquated 136-year old law and strongly supports:
â– Ending the current priority status of mining over all other uses of public land and providing land managers, with input from local communities, authority to approve or deny mines in order to balance hunting, fishing, grazing, timber harvest and clean water with mining;
â– Holding mining companies responsible for restoration and reclamation;
â– Providing adequate financial resources for the cleanup of abandoned mines by establishing a royalty for hardrock minerals; and,
â– Protecting our treasured public lands, watersheds and rivers, wilderness areas, national forests and Native American sacred places.
In addition, the bill should include the provision that will allow the state, county and tribal governments to petition the secretary of the interior to withdraw specific tracts of federal lands to protect cultural resources, watersheds, wildlife, hunting and fishing opportunities or scenic vistas. It is critical that the interests of western communities whose economies rely on the protection of surrounding public lands be respected by allowing them to have a voice in mining decisions that impact their fiscal and environmental health.
Tourism and recreation are vital to a healthy economy in Lincoln County, and many of our visitors are attracted by our wealth of public lands and the recreational opportunities they provide. We need a modern mining law that allows local communities and county governments to make a difference in the decision-making process that happens at the land-use planning stage.
Common sense must prevail, and New Mexico Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman, can do their part to ensure that happens. With substantive reform to the Mining Act of 1872, all citizens, including those of us in Lincoln County and around the West, will be among the direct beneficiaries.
Not only can such legislation actually resurrect fish and wildlife habitat, preserve clean water and protect our public lands for use by our citizens, but it can ensure future generations that these public lands will be as secure and protected as possible.
As an elected public official it is my duty and responsibility to protect the best interests of the citizens of Lincoln County. I am proud that my fellow commissioners realize the only way we can protect our citizens from large-scale mining operations and the impacts that come with it is to do our part in seeing that this 136-year-old law is reformed.
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