Mining

Challenge:

America's public lands — and the fish and wildlife that call them home — are struggling to cope with the effects of under-regulated hard-rock mining. Recognizing that an outdated federal law is to blame for much of the damage, America's sportsmen have set their sights on reforming the General Mining Law of 1872.

The 1872 Mining Law, which governs hard-rock mining (gold, copper, silver, etc.) on America's public lands, was signed into law more than a century ago. While the economies, cultures, and politics have changed in the West since then, the mining law has not. More than 270 million acres of federal land are open to hard-rock mining under the law, mostly in the Rocky Mountain West.

Because the law has not been meaningfully reformed, many of America's most treasured public lands are at risk, including important wildlife habitat and hunting areas, valuable fisheries, popular recreation sites, vital municipal water supplies and sensitive roadless areas. Public lands contain more than 50 percent of the nation’s blue-ribbon trout streams and more than 80 percent of critical elk habitat.

Since 1872, certain modifications have been made to the law. But the basic doctrines:

that the public lands are available for private mineral claims;
that miners on the public lands are entitled to exclude the public from their claims;
that mining takes precedents over all other uses on public lands including hunting and fishing
that the public receives no payment for this private use of the lands or the value of the minerals removed;
and that miners can eventually own both the minerals and the land for a nominal fee remain the law of the public land today.

Learn more about the General Mining Law of 1872.

Strategy:

Sportsmen United for Sensible Mining, a coalition of organizations and individual grassroots partners spearheaded by the TRCP, the National Wildlife Federation and Trout Unlimited, formed to preserve America’s legacy of hunting and fishing through sensible mining practices. SUSM represents millions of hunters and anglers, fish and wildlife professionals, and citizens who recreate on and enjoy our public lands. We believe that a more sensible approach to hard-rock mining in the West will allow for better management of America's fish and wildlife resources.

SUSM supports the following recommendations for mining law reform:

End mining’s priority status on public lands;
Recover reasonable royalties on minerals taken from public lands and establish a fund for fish and wildlife habitat improvement to address impacts from past mining;
Ensure that resource professionals have discretion in planning and permitting future mining to conserve public lands where high fish, water and wildlife values exist;
Allow reclamation incentives for Good Samaritans; and
Prohibit patenting or sale of public lands — keep public lands in public hands.

Action:

Sportsmen United for Sensible Mining launched in response to groundbreaking legislation proposed in May 2007 by U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Rahall's bill was passed by the House of Representatives later that year, but the Senate ran out of time to pass a version through its chamber, and no resolution to mining reform emerged from the 110th Congress.

In January 2009, Chairman Rahall introduced H.R. 699, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act. H.R. 699 is identical to the bill passed by the House last year in a 244-166 bipartisan vote. Supporters of H.R. 699 hope to expedite its passage in the House and carry that momentum on to the Senate.

Energy and Natural Resources Chair Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) has introduced the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009 (S. 796), a companion bill, in the Senate. A hearing was held and Secretary Salazar told the committee that the administration viewed mining law reform as a top priority for this Congress. Sportsmen will be working with members of Congress to push for movement of both bills in the coming months.

SUSM's report makes the case for revision of the outdated legislation and details the devastating impacts of the 1872 Mining Law on public lands in 13 Western states. Read Sensible Solutions: Balancing Hardrock Mining with Fish and Wildlife Resources in the West.

Learn more about how sportsmen are working to effect common-sense revisions to the 1872 Mining Law.

Join Hunters and Anglers for Responsible Development.

For more information about SUSM, contact Joel Webster, associate director for campaign management, the TRCP Center for Western Lands, or Katie McKalip, associate director of communications, the TRCP Center for Western Lands.