Times Change...And So Should The 1872 Mining Law

The Latest:

Earth Day's Unfinished Business
April 20, 2010
On this 40th anniversary of Earth Day, it's hard to imagine what the American landscape would look like today without Stewart Udall, the legendary interior secretary who recently passed away after a lifetime of championing conservation. However, by his own acknowledgment, he left behind some unfinished business — reforming the 1872 Mining Law.
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Pew Environment Group Statement on Obama mining waste position
April 1, 2010
Jane Danowitz, director of the Pew Environment Group's U.S. public lands program, issued a statement today regarding a March 30 filing from the Obama administration supporting Bush administration rules that provide the mining industry wide latitude for the disposal of mine waste on public lands.
Read the statement

The Fleecing of America
March 16, 2010
MSNBC Nightly News takes on the antiquated 1872 mining law that allows multinational corporations to take billions of dollars in gold from America’s public lands without any return to the taxpayer.
Watch the segment

100,000 comments call for Grand Canyon protection
November 5, 2009
After nearly 100,00 members of the public weighed in for Grand Canyon protection, a Pew Environment Group ad in Politico called on Congress to support a bill that would permanently protect the park from new uranium mining claims.
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Background

The cost to Americans has been high.

• The U.S. Treasury loses an estimated $100 million a year because the metal mining industry — unlike coal, oil and gas companies — can extract valuable resources from public land essentially for free.



• Taxpayers face a $50 billion cleanup bill from this industry, which releases more toxic pollution than any other.



• Claimholders can buy public land for $5 an acre or less, and use it for anything from condominiums to casinos. An area nearly the size of Connecticut has already been sold at these 1872 prices.

Worse yet, a new rush is on in the West. Over the past five years, mining claims for uranium, gold and other metals on public lands have increased almost 50%. Many of these new claims — staked largely by foreign-owned companies — lie near national treasures such as the Grand Canyon, as well as highly populated urban areas and tribal lands.

It's time to reform the 1872 Mining Act and reclaim our public lands for future generations.