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| Domenici, Wilson fight mining plan |
December 09, 2005 |
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By James W. Brosnan
Scripps Howard News Service
WASHINGTON - Albuquerque Republicans Pete Domenici and Heather Wilson are joining a chorus of Democratic opposition to a House-passed bill that conservation groups say could open up millions of acres of public lands in the West to miners and developers for as little as $1,000 per acre.
The provision, part of the House budget spending bill, lifts an 11-year-old ban on the "patenting," or sale, of public land that is being mined. It also further allows the owner to develop the property for homes or other uses once the minerals are gone.
Domenici`s opposition is critical because he is chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the mining law in the Senate.
"Chairman Domenici will not support the provision as written," said Energy Committee spokeswoman Marnie Funk. She said Domenici is working on a response with other senators to either rewrite the provision or to drop it altogether from the budget bill.
Wilson joined eight other House Republicans in announcing their opposition to the provision Thursday.
"If enacted, this bill could lead to a rapid sale of public lands throughout the West," they said in a letter to House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle, an Iowa Republican.
Opposition to the change in federal mining law has been building since the House Resources Committee approved the provision as its portion of the budget-spending bill Oct. 26. The Congressional Budget Office estimates it would bring in $426 million in new revenues during the next 10 years.
Rep. Tom Udall, Santa Fe Democrat, voted against the provision in committee; Rep. Steve Pearce, Hobbs Republican, voted for it.
Gov. Bill Richardson joined five other Western Democratic governors in a letter of opposition Dec. 2. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, Silver City Democrat, and seven other Western state Democratic senators announced their opposition Tuesday.
Supporters and opponents disagree about the impact of the proposed changes.
Pearce said it only changes the cost of buying public land that is being mined from as little as $2.50 to $5 an acre to at least $1,000 an acre or fair market value, whichever is greater.
"It opens no new lands to mining," he said.
House Resource Committee Republicans say it immediately affects 360,000 acres of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property where mining is under way, including 719 acres in New Mexico.
But Richardson and New Mexico Game and Fish Director Bruce Thompson told reporters in a conference call Thursday that the provision could open all 26 million acres of public lands in New Mexico to potential development.
Richardson said hunters and fishermen in New Mexico "are in an uproar" about a provision that would "put a for sale sign up for developers and anybody who wants to take over public land."
Critics say the language would allow natural gas and oil drilling companies to acquire public land without paying any royalties.
"Why would they want to buy land when they can simply lease the land?" responded Bob Gallagher, president of the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association.
The principal author of the House provision, Rep. Jim Gibbons, a Nevada Republican, said the proposal does not change the current law that requires miners to prove to the government that there are minerals below the surface before they can buy the land.
Anyone who bought the land and didn`t start mining would be guilty of fraud, he said.
Gibbons, who was a geologist and attorney before his election to Congress, said he wants to help communities to develop properties on which mines have played out. For instance, Pershing County in Nevada wants to turn its open mining pits into a landfill site for garbage from California, he said.
He said he`s willing to exclude from the bill lands near ski resorts or other environmentally sensitive areas.
"There is so much disinformation that has been intentionally put out there," Gibbons told reporters. "I`ll work to modify the language so we can address those issues."
But Sean McMahon, director of national land stewardship campaigns for the National Wildlife Federation, said any major change to the national mining law deserves a full debate and should not be part of a budget-spending bill.
Montana Democratic Brian Schweitzer put it more bluntly on the conference call with Richardson:
"If a skunk comes into your house you can throw it into the shower and he`s still going to smell like skunk. You`re not going to get out the smell of this one with just a shower and a little soap." |
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