1872 Mining Act

  • Take a hammer to the 1872 Mining Act

    Ralph Maughan

    “The 137-year-old law is a legacy of a bygone era in the West” Folks have been trying to change this law my entire life and long before that. Will this be the year? If so, how much can it be changed? The Oregonian thinks change is now politically possible. The 1872 Act has long been…

  • Time for hard-rock mining companies to pay up. New mining reform bill introduced

    Ralph Maughan

    Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall wants hard rock mines to pay royalties- Despite Obama’s seeming lack of interest in mining reform (probably due to prompting from Harry Reid), the chair of the House Natural Resources Committee is not detered. Story in the Salt Lake Tribune. Report: Time for hard-rock mining companies to pay up.…

  • What Westerners would love to ask the candidates

    Ralph Maughan

    They say the West is going to be in play for once and and maybe decide the 2008 presidential race. However, the candidates are not really talking about Western issues. Yes, Obama came out against the Cline coal pit mine that would pollute the Flathead River as its runs into the United States. He also…

  • Atlanta Gold told to pay bond for arsenic cleanup if it wants gold on our land

    Brian Ertz

    The Forest Service is telling Atlanta Gold that it needs to post bond for cleanup of arsenic that results from the mining of gold along a tributary of the Boise River. The mine, citing the 1872 Mining Act, claims right not to do so suggesting that to do so sets an ‘unacceptable precedent.’ Atlanta Gold…

  • Senate Energy Committee holds hearings on changes in the 1872 Mining Law

    Ralph Maughan

    As the price of gold and other “hard rock” minerals rises, the need to change the 135-year old law that established the claim and patent system on public lands grows. Key U.S. Senate Committee hears about the need for mining reforms.  By Staci Matlock. The New Mexican. Mining claims rise near Western cities. By Judy…

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‎”At some point we must draw a line across the ground of our home and our being, drive a spear into the land and say to the bulldozers, earthmovers, government and corporations, “thus far and no further.” If we do not, we shall later feel, instead of pride, the regret of Thoreau, that good but overly-bookish man, who wrote, near the end of his life, “If I repent of anything it is likely to be my good behaviour.”

Edward Abbey

“The continued existence of wildlife and wilderness is important to the quality of life of humans.”

Jim Fowler

“Our forests offer much more than just beautiful landscapes and wildlife. Each one has a different story to tell.”

Raveena Tandon

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