Map: Stripped of accountability, mining is ravaging public lands

As the new administration continues full steam ahead with its “energy dominance” agenda, mention of critical mineral demand has become increasingly commonplace in the halls of the federal government. These conversations are often driven by the admin’s congressional allies and largely assert that overly restrictive regulations have choked the nation’s supply of minerals.

But this is a total fallacy. In actuality, mining is one of the most poorly regulated uses of public lands and is largely governed by a law that is well over 100 years old, the General Mining Act of 1872.

Under the current regulations, companies are generally free to “explore” on a 5-acre parcel of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land merely by filing notice. Even though exploration is an intrusive process that involves building roads, deploying equipment, drilling and blasting to sample the earth, the exploration notice does not require the company or the federal government to engage the public in any way.

The fee for companies to maintain a claim is a negligible $200 annually. There is no cap on the number of claims that a single owner may hold and there is no limit on the amount of time these claims can be maintained. In other words, as long as a mining operation pays a tiny annual fee, the parcel is theirs indefinitely and locked away from the public.

It’s this lax system that has led to a glut of mining claims being maintained on public lands, which can block public lands from being used for conservation, recreation and renewable energy development. The map below by The Wilderness Society shows that over 10 million acres of public lands currently locked up to maintained mining claims.

All told, there are over 510,000 mining claims are being maintained on these public lands. Because some of these claims predate the establishment of the Roadless Rule and Wilderness Act, many sit within the boundaries of some of our most ecologically important lands: nearly 42,000 claims (1,126,594 acres) in roadless areas and nearly 5,000 claims (169,772 acres) in wilderness areas. 

But apparently unsatisfied with this already permissive system, members of Congress allied with the Trump administration’s reckless agenda are pushing a new bill that would make it even easier for mining companies to ravage public lands.  

Introduced by Representative Harriet Hageman (WY), the Domestic Opportunities for Resource Exploration Act (Domestic ORE Act | H.R. 7458) would dramatically increase the size of notice-level exploration parcels from 5 acres to 25 acres. In effect, this bill will put millions of additional acres of BLM lands at risk of exploratory mining. To make matters worse, the bill would extend this system to Forest Service lands for the first time.

In the best light, this bill is misguided and poorly conceived. At its core, it prioritizes short-term corporate interests over the long-term stewardship of our public lands.  Like several recent proposals from Congress and administration, it advances the idea that the public should not have a voice in decision-making and that public lands are meant to benefit rich corporations over communities.

But public lands belong in public hands—these are places that safeguard clean air and water, sustain wildlife habitat and preserve our freedom to explore the outdoors. Until our leaders listen to the strong public support for protecting these places, we will continue standing up for the conservation, access, and stewardship needed to ensure they endure for future generations.