But the extraction of minerals does not come without a price. Many believe that the law is an anachronism, a relic of a bygone era when the government owned vast open areas that nobody else wanted and sought to promote interest in these lands. Others feel that the law provides still-needed incentives to encourage mining exploration and development, with their inherent risks. The effects of historic mining on the public lands are dramatic. Often shafts from abandoned mines pose health and safety hazards, threatening hikers with dangerous falls and exposure to radioactive materials.
Unreclaimed mines are also the source of acid runoff and heavy metal contamination of streams.
The pond-like reservoirs of cyanide solution used in modern heap leach gold mining have posed a threat to migratory waterfowl poisoned after mistaking the ponds for natural lakes.