ACTION ALERT
TAKE ACTION NOW! Don’t Let Congress Sell Our Public Lands
The week of November 14 we told you that the US House of Representatives was considering a proposal to sell off millions of acres of national forests, parks and other public lands as a means to reduce the federal deficit and “reform” the 1872 Mining Law at the same time. Once sold, these public lands become private, potentially fencing out climbers and the millions of recreational enthusiasts that regularly use them.
In the early hours of November 18, by a vote of 217-215, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the budget reconciliation bill, which contains the mining provisions introduced by House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo (R-California) that allow land speculators and multi-national mining and energy corporations to take ownership of millions of acres of our federal public lands. For specific bill language, go to http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.4241: and reference H.R. 4241.
What this means for climbers is that we could lose access to any climbing area located on or next to any existing mining claim, including the access trails to your favorite crag. Once sold, these lands—which belong to the American people and are enjoyed by millions of private recreational users each year—could become off limits for climbing, boating, hiking, and any other recreational use. If this provision is approved, any land speculator could buy our crags for as low as $1,000 per acre, and the land would not have to even be mined – any corporation could buy these lands and use them for any purpose. As much as 270 million acres could be threatened under this proposal and, adding insult to injury, these sales could happen with no public input from the recreational users that frequent these special places.
Anyplace where there are mining claims on public lands (lands adjacent to mining claims are also at risk) can be affected by the mining "reform" proposal -- Oak Flat, AZ; Grand Canyon, AZ; Indian Creek, UT; Canyonlands NP, UT; Little Cottonwood Canyon, UT; Darrington, WA; Tensleep, WY; Telluride, CO; Boulder Canyon, CO; Bishop, CA; Mt. Charleston, NV; Black Hills, SD; etc. -- it's not just the crags themsselves, but if these mining claims (or adjacent lands) control the approach to any crag access can also be restricted.
“This is a loss for the millions of Americans who recreate on western public lands,” said Access Fund policy director Jason Keith. “This land grab means that climbers, mountain bikers and hikers could lose the free and open access to the unspoiled forests and backcountry that they currently enjoy.”
Now What?
The bill now moves to conference committee where selected individuals from the US House and Senate will decide on the final budget reconciliation bill. The Senate version of the budget bill does not have this privatization provision, and thus it is crucial that we call our US Senators and urge them to prevent these mining “reform” provisions from becoming law. The representation on this committee is not yet decided, and thus the whole Senate is our lobbying target until the conferees have been decided.
Your call to Congress could save your public lands access. Call your US Representative (go to http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/ to find your US Representative) and stress the following points (reference http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:H.R.4241:):
- If passed into law, this law would make the 1872 Mining Law worse, by placing climbing areas and other special places at risk by allowing mining companies to purchase mining claims even if they are within a protected area such as national parks or wilderness areas.
- As much as 20 million acres out of 270 million acres of public land cold be sold off. This mining "reform" proposal, which has not been publicly debated, should receive public hearings in the relevant resource committees rather than being slipped through Congress in a budget bill.
- The mining subtitle will enable U.S. and foreign companies to buy our American heritage without any proof that the lands can and should be used for mineral development, and without regard for the other uses and needs for these lands, including water quality protection, wildlife habitat and recreation. As regular users of public lands, the climbing community opposes this wholesale disposal of our treasured public land resources.
- Please oppose the mining “reform” provisions in the Budget Reconciliation bill.