** After lax permit review, calls to revamp 1872 mining law
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Monday, October 7, 2019
Santa Rita Mountains in southern Arizona | Alan Schmierer ([link removed])

A former supervisor of the Coronado National Forest in Arizona is renewing calls to modernize ([link removed]) the 1872 mining law, saying it prevented the agency from reducing the impacts of a massive proposed copper mine. The antiquated law gives broad latitude to mining companies, allowing them to access valuable mineral deposits on public lands while paying no royalties for the publicly-owned ore they extract.

From 2010 to 2015, Jim Upchurch oversaw many key steps in the permitting process for the Rosemont Mine in southern Arizona, including a draft approval of the project in 2013. The proposed mine would disturb more than 5,000 acres of key wildlife habitat and include an open pit more than a mile wide and half a mile deep. Upchurch says the law hampered the agency's ability to reduce future impacts of the mine, noting ([link removed]) , "Right now, there is no flexibility. It’s either ‘do this’ (what the mining company proposes) or do nothing. There’s not much leeway."

Mining companies have long sought to keep the outdated 1872 mining law in place, spending heavily to lobby officials in Washington. Under the Trump administration, their efforts are paying off. Until just months before joining the administration, Interior Secretary David Bernhardt lobbied for ([link removed]) the Rosemont Copper Company. Unsurprisingly, in office Bernhardt has moved ([link removed]) to speed the approval of new mines and reduce federal oversight of mining operations.
Quick hits


** Park managers push back on plan to allow off-road vehicles in Utah's national parks
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Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed])


** Conservation groups call for increased fees for oil and gas leasing on public lands
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Yellowstone Public Radio ([link removed])


** BLM opens 725,000 acres to oil and gas development in Central California, land had been off limits since 2013
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | Sacramento Bee ([link removed])


** Emails show White House surprised Interior officials with unannounced Inspector General assignment
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Retired national forest supervisor calls for mining law reform after limited review of Arizona's Rosemont Mine
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Arizona Daily Star ([link removed])


** With melting glaciers and burning forests, warming climate alarms Montana scientists
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Bozeman Daily Chronicle ([link removed])


** Colorado's Great Sand Dunes National Park could become first "quiet zone" in United States
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Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])


** Opinion: In the midst of a conservation crisis, it's time to fully fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund
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The Hill ([link removed])
Quote of the day
In government, form and function are inextricably linked. Proponents of this [BLM] reorganization know this, too. Dividing agency leadership into distributed pieces, scattered across multiple states, will produce an agency less likely to achieve its broad mission for the American public.”
—Lynn Scarlett, former deputy secretary of the Interior, Bloomberg ([link removed])
Picture this
Sunset along Park Avenue in Arches National Park
Photo by Cassell Archinuk | @Interior ([link removed])

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