Western Lands Update Western Lands ProjectSeattle, Washington Fall 2005 Research, Outreach, and Advocacy to Keep Public Lands Public Vol. 9, No. 4O n November 19, the House passed a budgetreconciliatio n bill that could privatize vast tracts opublic land by allowing mining companies and others to buy public land without having to prove it has potential or mineral development. The sell-oprovision came courtesy oRep. Richard Pombo (R-CA), Chair othe House Resources Com- mittee. Pombo has made a mission odismantling environmental laws. In the past ew weeks, the environmental lobbyocused massive resources on the removal oa provi- sion in the same bill that would have opened up the Arctic National Wildlie Reuge to oil development. The mining company sell-o, however , poses a threatthat stretches across literally millions oacres. Some background: The 1872 Mining Law authorized the practice o“patenting” public lands or hard-rock mineral development, including gold, silver, and copper . In addition to claiming the minerals under- ground, the law allowed miners to purchase the title, or patent, to the surace interests in public lands or no more than $5 an acre ithey could prove theycould viably mine minerals underneath the lands. Unlike oil, natural gas or coal extractors, hard-rock mining companies are not required to pay any roy- alties to the public or the value othe minerals they remove. This has made the mining conglomer - atesmany owhich are oreign companiesben- eciaries oan outrageous and extremely damaging subsidy . In 1994, Congress placed a moratorium on patenting; hard-rock mining companies could still take minerals rom below public lands ree oroyal- ties, but they were prohibited obtaining patent. Con- gress has renewed the patent moratorium every year since then. (In the late 1990s, many land exchanges House budget bill pushes multimillion-acre land grab initiated by mining companies were aimed at obtain- ing ownership oland where they had claims and couldn’t le patents). Pombo’s measure would abolish the moratorium, putting millions oacres across the West up or sale to mining and other interests or $1000 /acre or air market value, whichever is greater , but the appraisals would be perverted by the exclusion oany underly- ing mineral value. The provision would retain the prohibition on royalties, depriving the public a source oincome potentially much greater than whatcould be earned by selling othe land. The measure is broad, aecting Wilderness StudyAreas, roadless areas, and lands next to national parks and monuments. While some othese lands have been withdrawn rom mining activity in order to pro- tect their natural resource values, Pombo’s measure would override the protection wherever withdrawn lands were contiguous to mining claims. Neither the public nor the land management agen- cies would be able to exert any infuence on the sales processmining companies would essentially have a “right to mine” and would get title to the land so long as they were willing to pay the surace value. The National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) would no longer apply once the land was privatized, closing oone othe main avenues to public involvement. Perhaps the most alarming aspect othe proposal is the lack orequirement that the land actually be used or mining, with the result that public lands would suddenly be open to all types odevelopment. And yet more privatization would stem rom a clause thatencourages the sell-oopreviously mined land (as
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Fall 2005 Research, Outreach, and Advocacy to Keep Public Lands Public Vo
On November 19, the House passed a budget reconciliation bill that could privatize vast tractso public land by allowing mining companiesand others to buy public land without having toprove it has potential or mineral development.
The sell-o provision came courtesy o Rep. RichardPombo (R-CA), Chair o the House Resources Com-mittee. Pombo has made a mission o dismantlingenvironmental laws.
In the past ew weeks, the environmental lobby ocused massive resources on the removal o a provi-sion in the same bill that would have opened up the
Arctic National Wildlie Reuge to oil development.The mining company sell-o, however, poses a threat that stretches across literally millions o acres.
Some background: The 1872 Mining Law authorizedthe practice o “patenting” public lands or hard-rockmineral development, including gold, silver, andcopper. In addition to claiming the minerals under-ground, the law allowed miners to purchase the title,or patent, to the surace interests in public lands orno more than $5 an acre i they could prove they could viably mine minerals underneath the lands.
Unlike oil, natural gas or coal extractors, hard-rockmining companies are not required to pay any roy-alties to the public or the value o the mineralsthey remove. This has made the mining conglomer-atesmany o which are oreign companiesben-eciaries o an outrageous and extremely damagingsubsidy. In 1994, Congress placed a moratorium onpatenting; hard-rock mining companies could stilltake minerals rom below public lands ree o royal-ties, but they were prohibited obtaining patent. Con-gress has renewed the patent moratorium every yearsince then. (In the late 1990s, many land exchanges
House budget bill pushes multimillion-acre land grabinitiated by mining companies were aimed at obtain-ing ownership o land where they had claims andcouldn’t le patents).
Pombo’s measure would abolish the moratorium,putting millions o acres across the West up or saleto mining and other interests or $1000/acre or airmarket value, whichever is greater, but the appraisalswould be perverted by the exclusion o any underly-ing mineral value. The provision would retain theprohibition on royalties, depriving the public asource o income potentially much greater than what could be earned by selling o the land.
The measure is broad, aecting Wilderness Study Areas, roadless areas, and lands next to national parkand monuments. While some o these lands havebeen withdrawn rom mining activity in order to pro-tect their natural resource values, Pombo’s measurewould override the protection wherever withdrawnlands were contiguous to mining claims.
Neither the public nor the land management agen-cies would be able to exert any infuence on the salesprocessmining companies would essentially havea “right to mine” and would get title to the land so
long as they were willing to pay the surace value. TheNational Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) would nolonger apply once the land was privatized, closing o one o the main avenues to public involvement.
Perhaps the most alarming aspect o the proposal isthe lack o requirement that the land actually be usedor mining, with the result that public lands wouldsuddenly be open to all types o development. Andyet more privatization would stem rom a clause that encourages the sell-o o previously mined land (as
well as contiguous land that hasn’t beenmined) or “sustainable economic develop-ment” purposes. This term is not denedin the bill, but one has to imagine it wouldinclude hotels, ski resorts, gol courses, andsecond homes.
The House budget reconciliation billpassed by only a two-vote margin. Becausethe Senate-passed budget did not containthese sweeping changes to the 1872 MiningLaw it is still possible to get them removedwhen a Senate-House conerence commit-tee reconciles their two bills.
The most important thing you
can do or your public lands
this year is to call both your sen-ators and your representative to
tell them take the mining land
grab out o the budget. Contact
inormation or your repre-
sentative can be ound at www.
house.gov, and or your sena-
tors at www.senate.gov.
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Weeden Foundation
A •
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Western Lands Project P.O. Box 95545Seattle, WA 98145-2545phone 206.325.3503ax 206.325.3515www.westernlands.org
Board of DirectorsRebecca Rundquist, Pres., Portland, MEMarianne Dugan, Eugene, OR
Help us stop CIEDRA!& the pillaging of public lands
HR 3603 has chilling implications or wilderness, water,& the integrity o public land
The Central Idaho Economic Development and Recreation Act o 2005 (CIEDRA), isan unabashed attempt to push the public land privatization agenda, sugar-coated withsome wilderness protection. CIEDRA would let o-road vehicles run rampant through550,000 acres o central Idaho’s public lands; undermine protection o the incompara-ble Sawtooth National Recreation Area, and outright give away 6,000 acres o our publicland to local interests or development.
CIEDRA exemplies a new paradigmsadly, supported by some conservation groupsthat sacrices “less” scenic, “less” iconic public lands to development as a quid pro quoor wilderness protection elsewhere.
Please lit a hand on behal o your public lands.Call and/or email the ollowing key congressional ofces:
Rep. George Miller (D-CA), call 202-225-2095, email [email protected]
We’re scrappy...and we get the job done!Please help support our work or public lands by completing this ormand returning it with your tax-deductible membership/donation to the
Western Lands Project PO Box 95545
Seattle, WA 98145-2545Phone 206.325-3503 Fax 206.325-3515