Congress should axe Pombo's extreme public land giveaway

[montana500]

www.wilderness-sportsman.com


"Congress is considering a proposal to sell off chunks of national forests, parks and other public lands under the subterfuge of mining law "reform." Once sold, the properties would be off-limits to public recreation and wouldn't be managed for the public's good. Coloradans could unexpectedly see suburban sprawl on mountainsides they thought were protected open spaces - a trophy home at the foot of the Maroon Bells, for example. Unlike existing law, the proposal would let the Bush administration sell off federal lands without public hearings or environmental studies.

The massive giveaway is largely hidden from voters' view in a 187-page budget bill. Colorado's congressional delegation should be outraged by the assault on our public spaces, but Tom Tancredo of Littleton actually voted for it in committee. The House should remove the misleadingly titled Miscellaneous Amendments Related to Mining when it votes today on the budget reconciliation bill.

The amendments really aren't about mining; they're about real estate speculation. They're a step backwards even from the existing problem-filled 1872 Mining Law, which lets companies purchase or "patent" mining claims on federal land for a pitiful $2.50 to $5 per acre if they plan to produce hard-rock minerals like gold or silver. Abuses have been egregious, especially because hard-rock mines don't pay federal royalties. In 1995, a company bought $3 billion worth of federal minerals in Arizona for just $1,745. Congress has repeatedly failed to reform the 1872 law, but in the 1990s lawmakers did manage to impose a moratorium on mine patents. "