A letter delivered today to the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee details tenets of reform of the antiquated 1872 Mining Law and is signed by 29 former fish and game directors from across the West. The signatories, who represent more than 180 years of collective experience in fish and wildlife management, primarily support reform of the 1872 law as a means to ensure the reclamation, restoration and enhancement of important fish and wildlife habitat and to prevent future degradation of such habitat by hard-rock mining.
"The stars have aligned for reform to take place this year. Sportsmen and women have worked hard to make this a priority in congress. We must capitalize on this momentum and get a bill introduced in the Senate," said Bill Geer, a TRCP policy initiative manager and director of the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources from 1984-1989.
Sportsmen United for Sensible Mining, which represents millions of hunters and anglers, fish and wildlife professionals, and citizens who recreate on and enjoy our public lands, led the effort to involve the former agency directors in reform of the 1872 Mining Law. SUSM is spearheaded by the National Wildlife Federation, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Trout Unlimited. The group recently released a report, "Sensible Solutions," that details state-specific examples of how hard-rock mining has affected fish and wildlife and argues that reform of the 1872 law is long overdue.
"As a former fish and game director, I understand the impacts of mining operations on fish and wildlife populations. Any reform of the 1872 mining law must include funds to restore fish and wildlife habitat damaged by mining," said William Molini, a TRCP field representative and director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife from 1982-1998.
An estimated half-million abandoned mines blanket the Western landscape. Forty percent of Western headwaters, most on public land, are contaminated by mine pollution. Twelve-thousand miles of streams and 180,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs are polluted by mining waste. Cleanup costs are estimated between $32 billion and $72 billion.
"After working for more than 28 years on New Mexico’s fish and wildlife resources, I feel the work that New Mexico’s senators are doing in working towards sensible mining reform is critical to the future of our fishing opportunities," said Jerry Maracchini, director of the New Mexico Game and Fish Department from 1994-2000. "Our waterways are few in New Mexico, and we have to take care of them into the future."
The former directors strongly support that the following provisions be included in reform of the Mining Law of 1872:
• Levy a royalty on minerals extracted from public lands, with the amount of that royalty to be determined by Congress, provided that such funding is sufficient to meet wildlife restoration and enhancement needs. A portion of the monies collected should be allocated to state wildlife agencies for mining-related fish and wildlife restoration and enhancement.
• Prohibit the patenting or sale of public lands, thereby keeping public lands public.
• Give public land managers discretion to permit mining only where appropriate in balance with other public land values and in accordance with the doctrine of multiple use. This should be accomplished through the identification of lands unsuitable for mining by using the public land-use planning process. In addition, for mines that have not been included in the land use planning process, but that are anticipated to have a significant negative impact to critical fish and wildlife habitat, there should be a process to appeal decisions on such mines to the respective secretaries of the interior or agriculture departments.
• Provide "Good Samaritans," who have no connection to the abandoned mine waste or interest in re-mining it for profit, reclamation incentives and common-sense liability relief.
In March, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee convened its second hearing this year on reforming the 1872 mining law. At issue were the merits of mining reform as it pertains to abandoned mines and increased uranium claims. Under the 1872 General Mining Law, more than 270 million acres of federal land are open to hard-rock mining, mostly in the Rocky Mountain West. Since 2003, mining claims for all hard-rock minerals (gold, silver, platinum, uranium, etc.) on Western public lands have increased by 80 percent, imperiling critical elk habitat and many of the nation’s blue-ribbon trout streams.
For more information, visit the TRCP or Sportsmen for Responsible Mining websites.
