Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** Lawmakers propose overhaul of 150-year old mining law
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Wednesday, April 27, 2022
Hard rock mining operation. Photo by BLM Nevada, Flickr ([link removed])

House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl Grijalva and New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich both introduced legislation ([link removed]) yesterday that would update the nation’s primary mining law, the General Mining Act of 1872, in ways that would fundamentally alter how mining companies produce minerals on federal lands ([link removed]) .

Both bills share a title, the “Clean Energy Minerals Reform Act,” and both lawmakers cited soaring demand for metals that are needed to make electric vehicles and renewable energy projects. Senator Heinrich told E&E News ([link removed]) , “the reality of needing additional minerals for the changing economy is a real one, but the price of that should also be updating our rules and regulations to something that is not a 150-year-old framework.”

While there are substantive differences between the two bills, both seek to address issues around how long companies can conduct mining activities and what they have to pay in order to do so ([link removed]) . Currently, companies can obtain rights to mine the federal mineral estate indefinitely, and mines operating on federal lands pay no royalties for extracting a publicly owned resource.

Efforts to reform this wildly outdated law have fallen short in the past, including most recently ([link removed]) during failed negotiations last year for the climate and social spending Build Back Better bill. For additional legal and historical context about why it has been so challenging to update this mining law, check out our interview with former Interior Department Solicitor and law professor John Leshy on the latest episode of CWP's "The Landscape ([link removed]) " podcast.
Quick hits


** Colorado's anti-water speculation bill dries up in legislature
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Landslide curtails access to Alaska's Denali National Park
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Reuters ([link removed])


** Wolf killings outside Yellowstone have fundamentally altered aspects of their canine behavior
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WyoFile ([link removed])


** Environmentalists fear piñon forests will disappear without the pinyon jay to plant the next generation of trees
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Lawmakers propose overhaul of 150-year old mining law
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E&E News ([link removed])


** Opinion: The West is burning, flooding, and drying up—it's past time to update oil and gas leasing policies
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The Hill ([link removed])


** Analysis: National park names center colonizer histories through place names
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High Country News ([link removed])


** Editorial: Fringe extremists danger to the environment
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Colorado Springs Indy ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” Human-caused mortality is the story of wolves across North America. One place that was not the case was Yellowstone, and we’re not anymore.”
—Doug Smith, Senior Wildlife Biologist for Yellowstone National Park, WyoFile ([link removed])
Picture this


** @Interior ([link removed])
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I get by with a little help from my friends! Coyotes and badgers are known to hunt together and can even be more successful hunting prairie dogs and squirrels when they work together. Photo by Jason Rudolph

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