** Mining royalties out of reconciliation bill
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Wednesday, November 3, 2021
Mining has incredibly large environmental impacts, Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

Hardrock mining companies have never paid royalties on the public resources that they extract. This year, there was a chance to make a step towards reforming the system and avoid ripping off taxpayers by establishing royalties and using the funding to help clean up abandoned hardrock mines. However, Senator Catherine Cortez Masto says that she has pushed the proposed royalties out of the reconciliation bill ([link removed]) .

The bipartisan infrastructure deal does include additional funding ([link removed]) for abandoned mine cleanup—but wouldn't help taxpayers foot the bill to restore former mines under the program ([link removed]) , leaving the public to still pay for many environmental messes left by private companies.

Hardrock mining is the only type of public lands extraction that does not pay royalties for operating on public lands, ever since it was authorized by Congress in 1872. Now, 150 years later, companies are still taking advantage of the antiquated regulations. “At the very minimum, I would hope that the senators that are protecting hardrock mining realize that at the very minimum they should pay some royalty, so we can clean up the messes that they leave,” said ([link removed]) House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva.
Quick hits


** Feds move forward with sale of southeast New Mexico public land to oil and gas industry
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Carlsbad Current-Argus ([link removed])


** How the National Park Service is committing to highlighting Native American history
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Travel + Leisure ([link removed])


** The winnowing of winter in the face of climate change
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High Country News ([link removed]) | Oregon Public Broadcasting ([link removed])


** Cortez Masto pushes mine royalties out of reconciliation bill
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Historic ranch spanning 392 acres preserved in central Colorado
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The Gazette ([link removed])


** How to take a train to some of America's best-loved national parks
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Outside ([link removed])


** The nation’s last uranium mill—in Utah—plans to import Estonia’s radioactive waste
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Study shows condors, an endangered species, can reproduce without mating
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Reuters ([link removed])
Quote of the day
I can’t imagine a lawmaker coming home and saying they got money to clean up a Superfund site would not get applause. It should be something to celebrate for these communities, because they really got screwed.”

—Nicole Gentile, senior director of public lands at the Center for American Progress on bringing home money for cleaning up abandoned mines, E ([link removed]) &E News ([link removed])
Picture this


** National Park Service ([link removed])
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America is a vast land of many cultures dating back thousands of years to the original inhabitants of the land. The history and heritage of Native Americans, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and Island communities are part of all national parks today. Throughout the year, and especially during November during Native American Heritage Month, the National Park Service and our partners celebrate together the rich traditions, languages, and contributions of Indigenous people. Learn more at www.nps.gov

#IndigenousHeritageMonth ([link removed]) #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth ([link removed]) #nationalparkservice ([link removed])

Image: The Yaadaas Crest Corner Pole- Second Twin at Alaska's @sitkanps ([link removed]) is a 1982 recreation of a crest pole depicting the heraldic emblems of the Yaadaas clan of Kaigani Haida

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