**Testimony Of**

[Dr. Mike Dombeck]{.smallcaps}

UW System Fellow & Professor of Global Conservation\
College of Natural Resources\
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point \
Stevens Point, WI 54481\
mdombeck@uwsp.edu\
715-346-3946

**Submitted To The**

[Senate Committee On Energy and Natural Resources]{.smallcaps}

**On**

[Reform of the Mining Law of 1872]{.smallcaps}

> January 24, 2008

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee:

Thank you for inviting me here to testify today. My name is Mike
Dombeck. I am a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. 
Formerly, I served as chief of the U.S. Forest Service and director of
the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). I'm a former fishing guide, and
still an avid hunter and fisherman. I'm pleased to present testimony on
the need to reform the laws that govern mining of hard rock minerals
from public lands on behalf of Trout Unlimited (TU), the National
Wildlife Federation and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership,
organizations that represent millions of sportsmen and women, wildlife
and fish professionals, and outdoor recreation-related businesses.

Mining is a legitimate use of public lands, but there are few laws more
in need of an overhaul than the 1872 Mining Law. The 1872 Mining Law,
signed into existence 135 years ago by President Ulysses Grant, is the
most outdated natural resource law in the nation. Under the 1872 law,
mining takes precedence over all other public land uses, including
hunting and fishing. The Secretary of the Interior must sell public land
to mining companies, often foreign-owned, for as little as \$2.50 per
acre. Furthermore, mining companies pay no royalties for hard rock
minerals including; gold, copper and zinc that belong to all citizens.
The price of uranium, gold and other heavy metals continues to drive
companies to stake claims across the West. Mining claims dot millions of
acres of public land across the West. Once claimed, it is nearly
impossible to prohibit mining under the current framework of the 1872
Mining Law, no matter how serious the impacts might be.

The legacy of the 1872 Mining Law is extensive, and the damage from
mining is still ongoing today. For example, the EPA estimates that 40
percent of western headwater streams are degraded by abandoned mines.
The following are some examples of impacts to water and fish and
wildlife habitat caused by specific mines in the recent past as well as
threats from proposed mines.

-   A Canadian mining company is pushing to develop a large, open pit,
    cyanide leach gold mine at the headwaters of the Boise River. The
    Boise River is responsible for more than 20 percent of the city's
    municipal water supply, as well as supplying critical wildlife and
    fish habitat, irrigation for agriculture and recreational
    opportunities. The Mayor of Boise has opposed the mine.

-   One of five known grizzly bear populations in the lower 48 states as
    well as imperiled bull trout may be eliminated due to a [proposed
    silver mine](http://www.rockcreekalliance.org/) in the Cabinet
    Mountain Wilderness in northwestern Montana. 

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-   In 1992, the [Summitville mine in
    Colorado](http://www.bettermines.org/summitville.cfm) released a
    toxic brew including cyanide and acid mine drainage, killing all
    fish and wildlife in a 17 mile stretch of the Alamosa River. Cleanup
    costs at the now-Superfund site exceed \$150 million. 

    -   Historic placer mining operations have affected Resurrection
        Creek in the Chugach National Forest, Alaska, by re-channeling
        the stream and separating it from its floodplain. These impacts
        degraded fish rearing and spawning habitat along the river, as
        well as adjacent wildlife riparian habitat for species like
        bears and eagles.

    -   The Beal Mountain Mine, located in the Beaverhead Deerlodge
        National Forest and operated from 1989 through 1998, has
        polluted valuable trout waters with cyanide, selenium and
        copper. Using more recent cyanide heap-leach technologies, the
        mining company promised that there would be no discharge of
        pollutants into receiving waters. The technologies failed and
        waters downstream have been contaminated with selenium and other
        heavy metals. The Forest Service and the Montana Department of
        Environmental Quality are working to contain the contamination
        which may have to be treated in perpetuity. With the mining
        company bankrupt, the taxpayers must pay the bill.

Professional resource managers at the Forest Service and BLM need to
have the ability to make science-based decisions about where and when
mining on public land should occur. Without this discretion,
professional land managers cannot maintain their commitments as stewards
of the public trust.

Public lands managed by the BLM and the Forest Service harbor some of
the most important fish and wildlife habitat and provide some of the
finest hunting and angling opportunities in the country. For example,
public lands contain well more than 50 percent of the nation's
blue-ribbon trout streams and are strongholds for imperiled trout and
salmon in the western United States. More than 80 percent of the most
critical habitat for elk is found on lands managed by the Forest Service
and the BLM, alone. Pronghorn antelope, sage grouse, mule deer, salmon
and steelhead, and countless other fish and wildlife species are
similarly dependent on public lands.

The national forests are a major source of water and of particular
importance in the West. Forest Service and EPA scientists have
determined that the national forests alone provide drinking water to
more than 60 million people in 33 states.

Mr. Chairman, in your letter of invitation, you asked that I comment on
five very important questions about the types of environmental reforms
that may be needed to modernize this law so that its provisions protect
fish and wildlife resources, and hunting and fishing. I will summarize
my responses by providing you with the five major ways the law needs to
be changed.

Any reform of the 1872 Mining Law should contain the following
provisions:

-   **A fair royalty from any minerals taken from public lands, a
    portion of which should be invested in an abandoned mine clean up
    fund.** Since 1977, royalties associated with coal mining have
    generated \$7.4 billion to help clean up abandoned mines and recover
    lands and waters and communities affected by coal mining. We need a
    similar fund for hard rock mining. And a sensible reform should
    include all mining operations, present and future. Almost every
    commodity developed off public lands -- coal, wood fiber, oil, gas,
    and forage -- has dedicated funding for mitigation of impacts and
    restoration measures. The only commodity that lacks such a dedicated
    fund is hard rock minerals. As a result, non-profit organizations
    such as TU, local communities, and state agencies, are dependent on
    cobbling funding from an array of private, state, and federal
    sources to get work done on the ground.

-   **Affirm the values of fish and wildlife habitat, water resources,
    and hunting and fishing, on public lands and make it clear that
    mining should not be the dominant use of our federal lands.**
    Professional land managers that work for the Forest Service and BLM
    believe the 1872 Mining Law makes hard rock mining a dominant use of
    public lands. Mining reform legislation needs to reaffirm the
    doctrine of multiple-use and recognize the inherent value of public
    lands for other important uses and values, including hunting and
    fishing opportunities and fish and wildlife habitat. This is a major
    priority for sportsmen, land management agencies, and other users of
    public lands.

-   **Agency managers should be given the discretion to make logical
    decisions based on land health about where to mine and where not to
    mine.** Special places with important fish and wildlife and water
    values such as wilderness areas, National Parks, Fish and Wildlife
    Refuges, and inventoried roadless areas ought to be placed
    off-limits to mining entirely. Discretion ought to be afforded to
    managers on other lands to allow for balanced and reasoned decisions
    about ecological, social, and economic values. And on highly
    mineralized lands with low fish and wildlife values, and high levels
    of mining company investment, mining companies ought to have a
    higher degree of certainty that mining projects can proceed in
    accordance with other laws and regulations.

-   **Funding and common-sense liability relief must be made available
    for would-be Good Samaritans and volunteers to clean up abandoned
    mines.** Abandoned mines are one of the single most important, least
    addressed environmental challenges in the nation. The geographic
    scope of the problem is staggering. EPA estimates that abandoned
    hard rock mines degrade nearly 40 percent of all western headwater
    streams. The enormity and scope of the problem have led to a
    collective sense of futility that has fostered inactivity in many
    places. Good Samaritans, who have no connection to the abandoned
    mine waste or interest in re-mining it for profit, should be
    provided with reclamation incentives and commonsense liability
    relief.

-   **Finally**, **mining reform legislation should prohibit the
    patenting or sale of public lands.** The U.S. Government has
    practically given away more than three million acres of our public
    lands to mining companies through the practice of patenting. It is
    troublesome that anyone can stake a claim on public lands and then
    buy the land for as little as \$2.50 an acre. With the increase in
    the price of metals, so have the number of claims staked. For
    example, in Arizona, the number of claims filed in the state has
    risen 80 percent since 2003. Thousands of these claims are within
    five miles of the Grand Canyon National Park, a crown jewel of the
    American public but also prime wildlife habitat for mule deer.

This Committee, and the Senate, have a rare opportunity to improve this
law. The House has passed a strong reform bill. Key Senators have
expressed their willingness to explore changes to it. We urge you to
carefully consider our recommendations, draft a good bill, and move it
through the Senate as quickly as possible next year. Sportsmen and women
around the nation, especially in the West, are counting on you to end
the long stalemate and reform the 1872 Mining Law.

Thanks for the opportunity to testify. I'll be happy to try and answer
any questions that you may have.