Mining plans assailed

Congress has delayed until late next week a vote on a House budget bill that contains a controversial revision to federal mining laws that critics say would result in a "fire sale" of public lands in the West — including 367,244 acres in Utah.

Democrats, including Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and moderate Eastern Republicans vow to vote against the bill. Republican leadership has tried to entice lawmakers with offers to strip other controversial provisions to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and to allow offshore drilling in areas where it is now banned.

But there are a multitude of other provisions weighing down the bill, including changes that would allow those with mining claims to purchase the surface land for a minimum of $1,000 an acre or fair market value.

The changes are being pushed by rural communities across the West, in particular those in Nevada, that want to capitalize on mining infrastructure once the minerals have been harvested and the site is slated to be "reclaimed" to its original condition.

By allowing private ownership of the surface lands, mining companies would be allowed to leave behind power lines, roads, buildings and other infrastructure that could then be used by the local community for other kinds of economic development, according to testimony before the House Resources Committee.

But the changes have provoked intense opposition from conservationists and hunters, who see the language as a massive loophole that threatens access to public lands.

The mining reform language, said Rep. Nick J. Rahall, the ranking Democrat on the committee, is "the worst kind of sham reform of the Mining Law of 1872 that has ever been promoted during my tenure in Congress, and if enacted would result in a blazing fire sale of federal lands to domestic and international corporate interests."

Rahall, D-W.Va., who is known for his vigorous protection of West Virginia mining interests, believes the language allows real estate developers and oil companies to purchase public lands for development that are important for recreation, wildlife, fisheries and drinking water "under the guise of a mining law."

According to a study by the Environmental Working Group, the language would "put 5.7 million acres of public lands with existing mining claims up for sale immediately upon passage, including more than 2 million acres of claims inside or within 5 miles of national parks, wilderness areas, wildlife refuges, national forests and prized public assets."

The study found Utah has 367,244 acres of public land currently under mining claims that could be sold upon passage of the bill.