EDITORIAL: Mining threatens parks

Claims threaten to mar borders of national parks

More than a century ago, Teddy Roosevelt gazed out on the Grand Canyon and urged his fellow citizens to enjoy one of “the great sights, which every American, if he can travel at all, should see.”

This year more than 5 million Americans will do just that, unaware that mining companies are moving aggressively to extract uranium, gold and other hard rock metals from public lands near the canyon rim.

A new report by the Pew Environment Group says mining claims threaten to despoil the borders of 10 iconic national parks and wilderness areas. At the Grand Canyon alone, uranium claims have increased 2,000 percent since 2004.

Driven by high prices and a strong global demand, mining companies have rushed in recent years to file claims to mine gold, copper, and other metals in addition to uranium in areas around Mount Rushmore, Joshua Tree National Park and other parks and wilderness areas.

The federal law governing mining is the culprit. Signed by Ulysses S. Grant in 1872, the General Mining Law remains largely unchanged and is one of the oldest and most damaging statutes on the books.

Originally intended to promote economic development in the West, the law gives precedence above all other uses to mining for hard-rock minerals. Unlike other statutes governing the extraction of natural resources from public lands, the mining law requires no royalties from companies that mine on public lands. The law requires no environmental safeguards, and its legacy is thousands of abandoned mines, poisoned streams and ravaged landscapes.

In an effort to limit damage from uranium claims near the Grand Canyon, the Obama administration two years ago withdrew a million acres from availability for claims for two years. The Department of the Interior is considering extending that withdrawal for another 20 years and should do so without delay.

But that extension would not prevent existing claims from moving forward. Meanwhile, the number of claims in areas surrounding other national parks is climbing by the day. For example, the Pew report says that since 2005 nearly a thousand claims have been made within five miles of the boundaries of Arches and Canyonlands national parks in Utah.

The only way to stop such encroachments is to reform the mining law, a move that has been supported by Democratic and Republican presidents. Yet the law remains unchanged, thanks to the obstructionist efforts of Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader who has thwarted reform because mining is a key industry in his home state of Nevada.

It’s time for Congress to say enough is enough. Comprehensive reforms to the mining law have been proposed in recent years by Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va. Lawmakers should support Rahall’s proposal, which would require mining companies to pay royalties, just like oil and coal producers do. The money also would help pay for cleanups of abandoned mines, strengthen environmental safeguards and allow the secretary of the interior to block mines that pose a clear danger to the environment.

Teddy Roosevelt would be appalled to see hundreds of mining claims within a short hike of the Grand Canyon. It’s time to reform the 1872 mining law and protect America’s treasured parks.