In the old days, it was the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.” The Democrats eventually changed it to the House Natural Resources Committee, but the Republicans changed it to just Resources Committee.” Now the Democrats will put “natural” back in the title.
Much more important is the sea change in personnel holding power and the policies that are likely to pursue. It is much more than Pombo being gone.
ePluribus Media reports on the good news (note: there are crossposts to and from several blogs).
House Natural Resources returns.
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Related news from the Las Vegas Sun. Mining laws dating to 1872 may be in for big changes. By Lisa Mascaro. Note that the new Democratic Leader (Majority Leader of the US Senate) Harry Reid of Nevada is a big champion of the mining industry. Nevada’s open pit gold mines are badly polluting Idaho and Utah with toxic mercury that is carried by the weather from the pits.
Comments
Watching Mining Reform move forward should be interesting.
The debate should be cast as taking our public lands BACK from nearly unfettered pillaging by largely FOREIGN-OWNED mining entities in the West.
Nearly all the big gold mines in the Carlin Trend,and strung out north and south of I-80 between Elko and Winnemucca are owned by foreign companies like Newmont, Barrick, etc.
Many of these foreign mines and mine speculation companies, too, hold large public lands grazing permits – over several million acres of BLM lands. They have bought the base properties, often for the water rights or to keep ranchers quiet, and with the base properties come the permits to graze.
So not only are these mines paying nothing to us in return for making mountains into open pits, and gashing exploration roads across whole ranges, there are tens of thousands of cattle and sheep roaming public lands under the foreign-owned gold mine permits.
Often, the mines don’t own the livestock. They let well-connected big ranchers sub-lease under them. That way, the veneer of ranching culture remains. And one branch of public lands exploitaiton (mining) does not upset the other (ranchers).
And we all are footing the Bill for the gold mine cows and sheep – subsidizing public lands grazing for the gold mines to the tune of 5 or 6 times the amount it costs BLM just to administer the permit – whatever it is now – $1.63 (???). And on top of that paying for Wildlife Services predator killing for these livestock operations, too.
I’m still waiting for the crooners in fantasy land at the Elko Cowboy Poetry to lament Mr. Goldbucks EarthDevourer Machine Haulin’ the Mountain Away. Probablywon’t happen – because the dogies still get to roam under Mr. Goldbucks BLM permit.
In reality,
Even lower….$1.56 per animal unit month grazing fee on BLM and Forest Svc. land.