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October 4, 1993 VoL 25 No. 18 A Paper for People wbo Care about tbe West Onedollarandfyiycenis.o

MINING REFORM

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_ _ Jon Christensen Glenn Miller, left, andjohn livermoretalk on a ridge above.a gold mine in Nevada's Independence Mountains ,Searching for " ! common ground \ ohn Livermore is no run-of-the-mill als, they arrived at a compromise. Each .j gold miner. . . is well aware that their agreement And Glenn Miller is no garden- breaks ranks with positions staked out variety environmentalist. by their colleagues; 'But they expected Like leaders of the Israelis and PLO, attacks tram friends when they decided they've reached out in an attempt to to talk to the enemy. find common ground in the fight over As they traveled and talked, the Serr- mining reform.i, . ate passed a bill sponsored by Idaho This summer, Livermore and Miller Sen. Larry Craig, R, that reflects the min- traveled with Great Basin regional edi- ing industry's minimal concessions to tor Jon Christensen to some of the giant reform. A tougher bill urged by environ- open pits of northern Nevada, where 65 mentalists and sponsored in the House percent of the nation's gold ismined. of Representatives by Reps. Nick Rahall, They agreed that reform of the 1872 D-WVa., and George Miller,D-Calif., Mining Law is both necessary and - continues under intense debate and lob- inevitable, and, negotiating as individu- bying. Our story begins on page 8.

• A joint proposal for mining law reform/12 • "IN YOUR FACE": Miners confront a professor/Ll • A comparison of mining bills/13 Ta l

Dear friends, A final emendation There are some incidents that are the We met inBozeman Her physical presence was recalled word equivalent of tar babies, and the The board of the High Country Foun- r fj,Jrus by Diane Josephy Peavey, also story about whether or not David Brower dation met in Bozeman, Mont., Saturday, :'trom a ranching family, who read from a compared loggers to guards in concentra- Sept. 18, to poke around at a preliminary radio piece she produced about Sally: tion camps is one of them. In the last version of the 1994 budget, to hear staff "Sally was very tall. No, she was issue of Dear Friends, we wrote that Dick member Steve Hinchman describe how very long. Her legs were long and carried Cavett, on his TV show, had asked David past and present issues of HCN will be her forward in strong, broad strides, her Brower: "What do you say to people who put onto an electronic format, to talk long arms swinging free by her side. Her complain that environmentalists cost peo- about the need for diversity on the HCN strawberry blond hair hung in straight, ple their jobs?" board - both ethnic and vocational long strands around her face - a face We had Brower answering Cavett. diversity, and to hear publisher Ed dominated by a wide, smiling mouth and But Brower tells us that it was Cavett who lllGH COUNTRYNEWS Marston say that radio is not in HeN's by direct eyes that studied you as if to bet- answered his question by saying: "I sup- ter absorb your words .... posed a lot of people lost their jobs when (ISSN!0191!5657) is published immediate future, although television may biweekly, except for one issue during be. (Salt Lake City television producer "She is everywhere with me as I try they closed the furnaces at Dachau." Then July and one issue during January', by Mike Youngren is making a 15·minute to understand her death. I weep for her Brower says, Cavett was so shocked by the High Country Fou-ndation. 119 video to test whether there is a market for husband and her two young girls, who the answer he, Cavett had given, that he Grand Avenue, Paonia, CO 81428. sec- an hour-long program based on HCN's lost their energetic and compassionate changed the subject. end-class postage paid at Paonia. view of the West.) wife and mother. The above version mayor may not be Colorado. . Normally, board meetings take up the "She was only a 37-year-old woman right. But whatever the case, it's the last POSTMASTER: Send address full day, and more. But this one raced to on an early morning walk along a quiet correction. changes to HIGH COUNTRY NEWS, an.early ending, allowing board and staff Wyoming road. It was such a simple thing Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428. to adjourn to a hillside outside Bozeman, to do." - Ed Marston for the staff Subscriptions are $28 per year for individuals and public libraries, $38 .where they stood in a circle to share their After the memorial service, the board per year for institutions. Singlecopies memories of Sally Gordon, the board went to a park in Bozeman, for a potluck $1.50 plus postage and handling .. Spe- member who was killed by a pickup truck with subscribers from around the region. BULLETIN BOARD cial Issues $3 each. last month on a rural road. Emily Swanson of Bozeman, who orga- We recalled Sally's aliveness, her nized the. meeting and potluck, had been FOR GREEN ENTREPRENEURS Tom Bell enthusiasm, her raucous laugh, and her unable to find a hall for the potluck, so Editor-emeritus inability 'to contain herself. Our sense was the evening - chilly even by Montana The Common Ground Project of Prescott College in Arizona is hoping to Ed Marston that she would have loved to be diplomat- standards - turned into something of a Publisher" unite business and environmental interests ic and quiet at HCN board meetings; physical test, which everyone passed with Betsy Marston at a conference on "Environmental Editor instead, she was blunt and to the point. blue lips and red ears. Entrepreneuring: People, Jobs and the Envi- Unda Bacigalupi Several members of the board and . The board members who attended the Associate publl5ber ronment." Set for Oct. 15-17 on the col- staff had attended Sail y' s funeral in Buf- meeting were president Kari] Frohboese Steve Hinchman lege's Prescott, Ari~.•campus, the get- Staff reporter falo, Wyo., and some of us in the circle. of Park City, Utah, Maggie Coon of Seat- together features 35 workshops including - Paul Larmer were surprised to hear that 500 or so of tle, Wash., Geoff O'Gara of Lander, Assistant editor discussions on how to start or "green" a her friends and neighbors had attended the Wyo., Dan Luecke of Boulder, Colo., business network with environmental busi- Jon Christensen service in Buffalo's Union Congregation- Victoria Bomberry of Stanford, Calif., Greut Basi" reglort4l editor ness people and learn the philosophy of al Church. We knew, of course, that Sally Michael Ehlers of Boulder, Colo., Judy environmental entrepreneuring. Contact C.L Rawlins Poetry editor had more of a life than her three-times-a- Jacobsen of Boulder, Colo., Diane Peavey Derk Janssen or_SueEllinger, Common Diane Sylvain year attendance at HCN board meetings. of Carey, Idaho, Farwell Smith of GroundProject, 220 Grove Ave., P~:~t~l: PrwIuctWn/proojre(uJhfg We hadn't realized, until we were told of McLeod, Mont., Emily Swanson of Boze- AZ 86301 (602/776-5109). . Cindy Wehling the outpouring of grief at the funeral, just man, and Lynda Taylor of Santa Fe, N.M. Desktop publJsblng how much more of a life she had had. CHANGE ON THE RANGE Ann U1rich rypesett/ng We knew she had owned a mail order Disclosure How will range reformdecisions made in Marlon Stewart business in Sheridan from 1986 to 1990. The foundation established by John Washington, D.C., affectranchersand the eopyedltlng But we hadn't known she was president Livermore, Public Resource Associates, environment in the West? The League of . Women Voters of Utah is sponsoring a town Gretchen Nicholoff of the Johnson County Library Founda- was one of the initial donors to Ht.N'« meeting to discuss thisissueat the Yarrow arcuJaUon manager tion Board, or that she ;erved on the Great Basin project. Livermore is featured Hotel in Park City, Utah,Oct.7 at 7 p.m. Phyllis Becktell Northwest Wyoming Family Planning in this issue's lead article. Circulation Speakers include Bureauof Land Management Board, the Buffalo Enhancement Com- Additional support for the Great Meg O'Shaughnessy Director Jim Baca, High Country News pub- Promotion mittee of the Big Horn Economic Devel- Basin project has come from the Nevada lisherEd Marston, BLM riparianspecialist Krlsty McFarland opment Board, the Buffalo YMCA board, Humanities Committee, the Funding Wayne Elmore, and RoseStrickland,chair of Business manager and the board of the Family Crisis Center Exchange, the Nature Conservancy, the the Sierra Club's grazingsubcommittee. For Davkl Frey in Buffalo. Or that she was an accom- University of Nevadaat Reno and numer- moreinformation, call the Leagueof Women Todd Hinnen PatriCk Guinan plished pianist. ous individual donors. Voters of Utah (801/272-8683). "Interns

Victoria Bomberry, ForestviUe, Calif. Maggie Coon, Seattle, Wasb. Judy Dona.d, Wasblngto", nc "Michael Ehlers, Boulder, Co~ Tom France, Missoulll, MonL Karil Frohboese, Park City, Utah Judith Jacobsen, Boulder, Colo. Dan Luecke, Boulder, Colo. Geoffrey O'Gara, LDnder, Wyo. Diane josepby Peavey,carey, taabo James B. Rueh, Flagsw.o; An'%. Farwell Smith, Mcleod, Mont. Emlly Swanson, Bozeman. Mont. Lynda S. Taylor,Albuquerque, N.M. M3l'k Trahant, salt LDke City, Utab Andy Wiessner, Detlver, Colo. "Board of Directors

Articles appearing in Hlgb Country News are indexed i9 EnvlronmeJJwl Periodicals Blbliogra- pby, Environmental Studies Institute, 800 Gar- den St., Suite D, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. All rights to publication of artides in this issue are reserved. Write for permission to print any articles or illustrations. Contributions (mariu- scripts, photos, artwork) will be welcomed with the understanding that -the editors carmoe be held responsible for ioss or damage. Enclose a self-addressed stamped envelope with all unso- licited submissions to ensure return. Articles and 'letters will be edited and published at the dlscre- ti09 of the editors. Advertising information is available upon request. To have a sample copy sent to a friend, send us his or her address. Write to Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428. Call Higb ,Country News in Colorado at 303/527-4898.

~ Printed on recycled paper: • .. 15% pest-consumer, ,.fI 25% wood chips. Cindy Wehling Fonner HCN intern Julie Nelson with the display window she created inHCN's storage building. It gives passersby a feel for the area covered by the paper and directs them next-door for more information.

2 - Htgh Country News - October 4. 1993 1, J i,

� t J Critics say big jets and national parks don't mix

At the mouth of Death Canyon in Wyoming's Grand Teton National Park, a column of ice forms on the gran- ite cliffs each winter. Jagged peaks of the near- by Grand Teton and Mount Teewinot stab white spires into the blue sky. But one of the ice wall's climbing routes has a curious name: "737 Earful," called that by climbers who can feel the rock vibrate as aircraft thunder in and out of the country's only commer- cial airport located within a national. park. Another kind of thunder is again rolling over the valley as Jack- son Ho le Airport pre- pares for what could be an unprecedented round of expansion. , A consultant hired by the airport board has presented five alterna- tives for growth that crit- ics say focus on eco- nomics and not the peace and tranquility expected in a national park, All but one call for extending the Roger Hayden/Jackson Hole ~ews 6,300-foot runway more "737 Earful" is the name of a climbing route in the Grand Tetonpeaks than 2,000 feet. None is , "-'. .I~ based on protecting the park. takeoff from Jackson Hole requires cut- much room for park values. We'd like to the park." Terri Martin says Neckels was "Somewhere back in the weeds are ting back on a small number of passen- see a reformulation of those." referring to a recent court case in which park values," says Sue Trigg, a longtime , gers during the worst conditions. Critics And earlier in August, Park Superin- her organization prevailed against the Jackson resident and critic of .airport say airlines should be able to live with tendent Jack Neckels listed 40 points that Federal Aviation Administration. In that expansion. that. he said should be considered in the CUf- case a federal court ruled that the FAA Airport officials sayan extension is "Enough is enough," says Terri Mar- rent planning process. They included acted unlawfully when it approved the sit- necessary to prevent runway overruns, tin, Rocky Mountain regional director fo-r restricting airspace and overflights above ing of an airport near Glen Canyon four of which have occurred since 1985. the National Parks and Conservation the park, installing a control tower to National Recreation Area in Utah. The "[f we had just a few feet more on the Association. "The current planning pro- direct flights away from the park, remov- agency had determined that noise at the runway, we wouldn't have had those inci- cess must be reoriented away from ing some ground support services, limit- Cal Black Memorial Airport would dou- dents," says Bill Meckem, airport board . accommodating endless growth," Martin ing use of the airport to quieter planes, ble, but concluded it would have no sig- chairman. "Our responsibility is to make adds. The range of alternatives, she says, and adjusting the so-called "noise ceil- nificant impact on the park. the airport as safe and efficient as possi- "utterly fails to respond" to park values. ing." The problem came in the FAA's use ble." Until recently, the co-ncerns In his statement to the board, Neckels of measurement standards designed for But critics charge that longer run- expressed by Trigg, Martin and others' suggested, "You may also deem it neces- urban airports - not airports located in or ways would do little to increase safety, were largely ignored. _ sary to look at an alternative of eventual near national parks. while inviting more and larger planes But on Sept. 1, Teton County com- elimination of the airport. This is a viable The "FAA substituted its subjective loaded with an increasing number of pas- missioners joined the chorus. They criti- option that should be comprehensively evaluation for that of recreational users sengers. cized their appointed airport board for addressed under the National Environ- instead of attempting to ascertain the actu- Trigg and others contend the safety ignoring the park and failingto follow the mental Policy Act." al impact on the users themselves," the argument is flawed because airlines can direction given them by the town and Neckels also warned that the airport's court ruled. Martin said the ruling makes adjust weight to ensure safety regardless county. Commissioner Dail Barbour said final master plan "must recognize, quanti- the Park Service responsible for develop- of runway length. Dropping weight to the range of alternatives "doesn't leave fy and qualify impacts of the airport on ing a method to measure impacts withina park. "You've got to have some kind of standard to reflect the park setting," she said. Pressure exerted by Park Superinten- dent Neckels and other airport critics bore fruit in late September. County commis- sioners and the Jackson Town' Council added three alternatives to the five pre- sented by airport board consultants. All call for no more than 1,000 feet of runway extension, One also suggests using a new Styrofoam-like material to stop runway overruns. For more information or to comment, contact the Jackson Hole Airport Board at Box 159, Jackson, WY 83001. - Roger Hayden

Roger Hayden is a veteran reporter in Jackson, Wyoming. He writes for the Jackson Hole News.

/ HighlCountry News - October 4, 1993 - 3

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Does Aspen need thousands more skiers? SNOWMASS VILLAGE, Colo. - "I Company's resorts, he says allowing it to don't feel it's in the best'interest of the pub- expand onto Burnt Mountain is a "preventa- lic to see that market share go steadily down- tive measure." hill," says Veto J. "Sonny" Lasalle, pacing Some of the group sqnirm in their before a marker-scrawled easel. "That cus- seats. The slim hope of finding common tomer is not only yours; he's mine, and I ground between the ski company, Snow- want him to have that qualityexperience." mass Village and the environmentalists Lasalle is not an economist addressing disappears. Jack Hatfield, president of a a corporate board of directors. The man local environmental group, Friends of with the short-cropped silver hair is super- Burnt Mountain, unveils a counterpropos- visor of central Colorado's White River al. He suggests allowing new ski lifts and National Forest: His audience is a gathering trails on the western side of Burnt Moun- of environmentalists, local officials and tain and creating a 1,OOO-acre wildlife executives of the Aspen Ski Company, who easement on the east side. Hatfield's plan are seated in a dining room of the ski com- would build the gondola on the developed pany's Snowmass Lodge. part of the resort, both to protect wildlife The Forest Service wants to allow the and keep tourists near Snowmass Vil- ski company to build a two-stagegondola, lage's shops. 10,000 square-foot restaurant, and more "I'm not willing to trade resources than 500 acres of new ski terrain on Burnt for a view," says Hatfield. Mountain. The mountain sits adjacent to His proposal doesn't raise an eyebrow the company's existing ski development from executives with the Aspen Ski Com- at the town of Snowmass Village and on pany. "There's an economic reality here," the edge of Colorado's most popular says company vice president Fred Smith. wilderness area, the Maroon Bells. "If you double the lift capacity, you"ve got The ~kicompany, owned by the Crown to double the acreage." Smith says the com- family of Chicago, says Burnt Mountain is pany has already compromised by agreeing the key to its future. Without new terrain on not. to cut ski trails on Burnt Mountain's Forest Service lands, a new portal and most sensitive elk habitat. upgraded lifts, the company says skiing at As the meeting concludes, Lasalle Snowmass will become as congested as an says, "l'm not going to do anything delib- L.A. traffic jam, and customers will leave for erately to destroy an ecosystem, but you rival resorts at Vail andSteamboat Springs. can't.do anything that won't impact an Without a gondola, Snowmass Village will ecosystem." continue to be a ghost town in the summer, The environmentalists are disappoint- and the company's wishtor an interlinking ed. "Sonny: sounds like.a ski company gondola system between all four of its employee," says 73-y'ear-old Dottie Fox resorts from Aspen to Snowmass Village after the meeting. She is president of the Aspen Skiing Company/Michael Kennedy will never come true. Aspen Wilderness Workshop. "The Forest Skiing at Snowmass For environmentalists and other crit- Service is right in bed with the ski devel- ics, Burnt Mountain is the last chunk of rode the:more. moderate recommendations Why would the.agency tilt toward the opers, just like it is with the timber and

the once-wild Roaring Fork.Valley, an of his staff. Garmine 'Lockwood, .the EOL"i ski company? The Forest Service's Lock- mining industries." ,:. tr. ';';'.;" ,. c ~"K' island of undeveloped land in a sea of est Service's project manager for Burnt wood-says past decisions inclined it.in-favor At the, meet,ing,. Lasalle tries to pro- carved-up mountains. The upper valley's Mountain, says his interdisciplinary team of downhill skiing. Much of the decision- vide some perspective. "I can tell you' that surviving herd of elk uses the mountain's wanted the gondola on an already-de vel- making process, including the crucial deci- this is not just happening in Aspen," he eastern flank as a migration corridor "and a . oped' part of the~Iliountain and, to protect sion to include Burnt Mountain in the Aspen says. "There's a proposal at Copper, Vail . summer calving ground. the elk herd, no ski trails on the east side Ski Company's permit boundary, was done and Adam's Rib. It's occurring aLI over. "Burnt Mountain provides a wilder- of Burnt Mountain. years ago, beginning with the agency's origi- All I know is we have job security for a ness-like experience that doesn't feel like "The rationale for that recommenda- nal 1964 master plan for the ski area. Subse- hell of a long time," he jokes. anything. else around here," says Pitkin tion is there when you study the impacts," quent documents, including tbe 1985 forest Ski resort expansion is booming in County Commissioner Wayne Ethridge. he says. plan, reinforce this bias, he says. "Sonny has Colorado. Since 1990, the Forest Service Sonny Lasalle is the man on the spot. Lockwood's team found that the a lot oflatitude." has approved 90,000 acres of new ski ter- His staff at the As) en Ranger District has agency's preferred alternative would wipe Back at the meeting, Lasalle tells the rain in Colorado, a whopping 57 percent already waded through more than 1800 out 65-to-75 percent of the 200-head elk group the Forest Service has a duty to pro- increase. The agency has another 80,000 letters on its Snowmass Ski .Area draft herd. In addition, the gondola and restau- vide high-quality skiing to the public, includ- acres both inside and outside existingper- Environmental Impact Statement, released rant at the summit would create a large ing the international tourists who areincreas- mit boundaries that it can consider for in May. A final decision is expected by visual impact and open access to the most ingly pouring into American ski resorts. It's future ski development. the endof the year. The agency's decision remote section of the Maroon Bells in nobody's interest to see ski areas go belly- Critics say the, Forest Service is hinges on a central question: How much Wilderness. Erosion from building lifts up like the nearby Purgatory, he says. approving ski expansions without a plan. damage to public lands should the Forest and ski trails on the mountain's east side Although Snowmass is not in trouble, and in . "No one in the Forest Service sits Service accept in accommodating a multi- would also degrade riparian habitat. fact, is the most lucrative of the Aspen Ski down and says, 'Where do we want to put million dollar ski corporation? new ski areas,'" says Tom Lustig, a staff Lasalle, who oversees 11 ski areas on cXI,STING BURNT attorney with the National Wildlife Feder- the White River National Forest, says he SNOWMASS MOUNTAIN , ation in Boulder. "It's driven by the developer, and the Forest -Service almost hasn't made up his mind yet. "I don't SKI AREA E.Y-f'ANSION know where we're going to come out, I never says no." really don't," he says. Lustig says the Forest Service also Snowmass. Environmentalists sitting around the , never analyzes the 'impacts its expansion VillaSe. table fear they know all too well where decisions have on other ski areas, espe- Lasalle will come out. They say he has • cially those that are hanging on the brink already shown where his sympathies lie of financial insolvency. Approving a new by choosing a preferred alternative in the area or greatly expanding an existing one draft EIS that is remarkably similar to the can. lure skiers away from other areas, company's own plan. bringing on bankruptcy, he says. That That alternative, in addition to the wreaks environmental and economic Burnt Mountain development, calls for havoc on small communities (HeN" 300 acres of new skiing within the exist- 5/8/93). ing development, 300 acres of new "snow- "It's a vicious circle," says Bill Cur- making capacity, five new chair lifts, and tiss, an attorney with the Sierra Club a 4iJO-vebicle parking lot. All told, the Legal Defense Fund in San Francisco. plan increases the ski area capacity 35 "The forest supervisor gives someone an percent, from 9,380 skiers per day to expansion. Then the others start saying, 12,670. The scenario also assumes that 'Hey, we can't maintain our market share private developers will construct 134 resi- without a larger subsidy." dential units and more than 15,000 square The Blunt Mountain ski expansion is feet of commercial buildings in a new "not about people who can't find a place East Village below Burnt Mountain. to ski," he says. "It's about one big ski. In making that choice, Lasalle over- company making money instead of anoth-

4 - High Country News - October 4, 1993 _ .•.ptAt .... 2

er. Where does the public benefit from Supervisor Lasalle says his agency fic congestion and air poll-ution. The HOTLINE that?" can control the impacts of new develop- Environmental Protection Agency Curtiss, who reviewed the draft EIS at ment on Burnt Mountain while meeting recently designated Aspen and a portion the request of Aspen environmentalists, the 'needs of the skiing public, "I have of Pitkin County surrounding the city a says one reason the Forest Service seldom faith in mitigation," he says. "Mitigation non-attainment area for exceeding feder- refuses new expansions is that skiing, is what we do at the Forest Service." al levels of PMlO, airborne particulates unlike wilderness and wildlife, brings in emitted by cars and wood bur ni ng money in the form of permit fees. On Burnt Mountain ~toves, among other things. The Forest "Burnt Mountain means some real "This is where the new summit sta- Service can't approve Burnt Mountain money in Sonny's in-box," he says. tion will be," puffs Brent Gardner-Smith, unless it can show that any increase in "They are willing to give away some the Aspen Ski Company's director of automobile traffic will be offset by intangihle values for hard cash." planning, as he climbs the last rocky feet reductions elsewhere. The Forest Service The agency denies that it defers to the to the top of Burnt Mountain: will rely on the new plan to mitigate off- expansion demands of competing ski resorts. The 360-degree view is, as they say, site impacts of the expansion. "I honestly don't think we do that. awesome. The 14,OOO-footMaroon Bells Local environmentalists worry that We don't have a goal to have Vail as a 100m to the west. To the south, ski trails Burnt Mountain's off-site impacts will standard which all other areas have to at the company's other resorts, including be as severe as those on-site. match," says Carmine Lockwood. "Each Buttermilk and Aspen Mountain, slice "This is going to generate a lot of area has a market niche." . through dark conifer forests. And below, growth;' says local Sierra Club president Yet competition over market share nestled in a valley, lies Snowmass Vil- Dawn Keating. "The valley's already is a theme pushed hard in the draft EIS. lage, looking like a toy town. maxed out." Snowmass competes with both Vail and Beyond the town is the Roaring Bill Curtiss of the Sierra Club Legal Steamboat, the document notes, and both Fork Valley, where late-summer traffic Defense Fund agrees. "Everyone is going of them have greatly increased their ski- weaves through a maze of orange cones to have one more layer of regulation" ing capacity over the last decade. The and highway construction workers imposed on them to compensate for Burnt agency says "the relative lack of capital widening Highway 82, dubbed "killer Mountain,' he says" starting with the new investment" at Snowmass has caused the 82" because of its high accident rate, to sales tax. "That's the price you pay." resort's market position to deteriorate four lanes. More than 70,000 people now Curtiss also says the Forest Service is relative to Vail and Steamboai. It notes call the valley home and a thousand , making a

Paul Larmer is HeN assistant editor.

For more information, contact the White River National Forest, Aspen Ranger District, 806 W. Hallam St., Paul Larmer Aspen, CO 81611, the Aspen Wilderness . Brent Gardner-Smith, Aspen Ski Company's director of planning, leans Workshop, (303/927-4483), or the against a charred tree on the tpp ofBumt Mountain Aspen Ski Company, (303/923-2085). High Country News - October 4. 1993 - 5 ,----

Wolves start a family in eastern Montana

AUGUSTA, Mont. - As debate Augusta-area rancher continues over wolf re-introduction in and member of the - Yellowstone National Park, a young fami- Montana Legislature. ly of gray wolves - the first in more than "The wolves 50 years - has settled near here and aren't bothering any- struck a balance with local ranchers. body right now, so At least four pups were born in late it's a live-and-let-live April, and observers like Joe Fontaine, situation;" says Cobb. leader of the.U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser- "But Ithink the issue vice's Montana Wolf Recovery Project, will be a lot hotter are delighted. This is the only known two or three years breeding pack easr of the Continental. from now. There will Divide in the lower 48 states. be more wolves and Five known breeding packs now maybe one will kill inhabit the agency's recovery project area something that it's in Montana, Fontaine says, but the other not supposed to. be packs are on the west side of the moun- killing," he adds. tains. The project's ultimate goal is to see Although ranch- 10 breeding packs established in each of ers like Cobb have the agency's three target areas. The other adopted a wait-and- two areas, in Yellowstone and central see attitude, others in Idaho, have no known breeding packs. the livestock industry "I think these wolves will succeed," aren't so trusting.

Fontaine says, "but the real question is, "Our main con- Jim Till/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service cerns with wolves is will they take any livestock?" This 122-pound male leads the Augusta-area pack So far the answer has been "no;" and that they've always local landowners have more important fed on whatever is Association. "If there's sheep or cattle . square miles. But the figure could rise to things to worry about than a fledgling easiest," says Jim Peterson, executive vice around, they'll feed on them." 400 square miles if the game supply family of wolves, says John Cobb, an president of the Montana Stockgrowers So far, the Augusta-area wolves, tapers off. Fontaine plans to track the which are denned in an area grazed by pack's movements with radio collars. The livestock, have rejected beef and focused 122-pound male - reportedly the largest , their diet on abundant wild game, particu- wolf ever captured in the Lower 48 - is , already collared, and Fontaine says he I larly white-tailed deer. "On several occa- I sions, I've seen the wolves approach cat- hopes to collar a few pups sometime this , fall. \ tle and they've passed within a foot of , one another, both paying attention, but The Augusta-area wolves aren't the c, ,, with nothing happening," says Seth Dia- first breeding pack on the east slope of the , Rockies in recent years. A pack denned in -, mond, a wildlife manager for the nearby Lewis and Clark National Forest. a livestock pasture near Glacier National But the area hasn't always been so natu- Park in 1987. Although the wolves left rally bountiful. In late May, when no new- the local cows alone, they were destroyed born deer or elk calves were on the ground when they began preying on livestock and nutritional dem1nds on the nursing several miles away. female were high, wildlife officials left road- - William Brock killeddeer for the pack on two occassions. If game remains abundant, biologists William Brock is a staff writer with the say the pack'S range will be about 250 Great Falls Tribune in Great Falls, Montana. A 'Holy Land' is saved in Montana

ing for the components of the bill requir- Champagne corks popped. During the last year, the land acquisi- ing land' purchase. After nearly seven decades of pro- tion bill almost died on a half-dozen occa- Finally, nothing could hold back a tracted negotiation and conflict, the Forest sions when congressiona-l deadlines coalition bent on resolving the problems Service, loggers and environmentalists passed or tenuous arrangements between caused by checkerboard lands. toasted the government's successful the Forest Service and timber companies "We have been trying to acquire acquisition ofkey wildlife habitat north of fell through. Another setback occurred these critical inholdings since the 1920s Yellowstone National Park Sept. 13. last month when, despite unanimous sup- and each time our efforts have failed - The agreement, ·embodied in the port from the White House, Montana's until, of course, this year," says Bob "Gallatin Range Consolidation Act of congressional delegation, Gov. Marc Denee, a negotiator with the Forest Ser- 1993," sets in motion a series of land pur- Racicot, R, and a broad coalition of public vice. Denee said another reason for suc- chases and trades. They are aimed at pro- interest groups, Indiana Rep. Dan Burton, cess in 1993, was that the land consolida- tecting one of the largest elk herds in R, objected to a voice vote on a- rule of tion act was not tied to passage of a Mon- - North America, prime-grizzly habitat and order. tana wilderness bill, which has failed over spawning streams for pure strains of Yel- Burton erroneously charged that the the last two decades. lowstone cutthroat trout. consolidation bill, which was sponsored Some areas within the 14 pristine by Montana Rep. Pat Williams, D, would ~Todd Wilkinson drainages with their unroaded land are so effectivel y add 70,000 acres to the size of revered by sportsmen they are known as Yellowstone Park and cost taxpayers $29 Todd Wilkinson free-lances from "the Holy Land." million over the next year. Bozeman, Montana, Along the Gallatin front between The bill's proponents countered that Yellowstone Park and Bozeman, Mont., the bill contained no pork and eliminated the Forest Service will acquire by pur- much of the difficult-to-manage checker-, chase and exchange roughly 80,000 acres board lands in the Gallati n and Madison of privately owned land in danger of mountains. These lands were deeded by being intensively logged or turned. into the federal government' to the railroads as BABBS subdivisions. Big Sky Lumber will an incentive for hastening non-Indian set- receive about 16,000 acres, plus land or tlement of the West. money to be determined later. To placate Burton, supporters "This deal·will be looked back upon removed a $3.4 million congressional as the single most important thing that appropriation, agreeing instead to offer was done to protect the biological integri- federal timber tracts of equal monetary ty of the greater Yellowstone ecosystem value. The Nature Conservancy, the during the last half of the 20th century," Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the says Michael Scoll, Northern Rockies Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Depart- field director for The Wilderness Society. ment have pledged to come up with fund-

6 - Htgh Country News - October 4, 1993 t T'emeI I IT pU,V?

Unclassifieds STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATiON NOTICE DEFENDERS OF WILDLIFE - Vice Presi- CONSERVATION BIOLOGiST. Defenders lOB OPENiNG - Staff Director. idaho Rural Council, a grass-roots membership dent for program. National wildlife conserva- of Wildlife is seeking a conservation biolo- organization founded in 1986 and focusing tion organization seeks vice president for pro- gist. Primary emphasis will be on the conser- (Required by 39 U.S.c. 3685) on family farm and rural community issues gram to develop and implement conservation vation of biological diversity. Responsibili- 1. Title of publication, High Country ties include monitoring development of fed- through community organizing and empow- programs. Duties include strategic planning, News erment of members, seeks a staff director acting as organization's spokesperson, budget eral/state biodiversity programs, conducting with experience in social change work to i Date of filing, October 1,1993 preparation, working with board committees; secondary research to guide policy decisions, supervise three staff and raise funds. Starting 3. Frequency of issue, Biweekly supervising staff of 18 policy analysts, scien- integrating the latest scientific information date around Nov. 15. Salary: $17,500 to A. No. of issues published annually, 24 tists, lawyers, education specialists, lobbyists into our conservation programs, and repre- $25,000 depending on experience. Health and support staff. Qualifications include five senting our programs to the scientific com- B. Annual subscription price, insurance and generous vacation and leave years' management experience in environmen- munity. Ph.D. in conservation biology, natu- $28.00/$38.00 policies. 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Citizen Alert, . Grand Ave. (Box 1090), Paonia, CO NW, Washington, D.C. 20036. Washington, D.C. 20036. No calls, please! Nevada's ~atewide environmental watchdog 81428·1090 organizaticn.jseeks individuals interested in 6. Names and address of publisher and applying for executive director based in Las MEET NEW FRIENDS, West, Northwest, and SIERRA CLUB LEGAL DEFENSE FUND editor: Edwin H. Marston, publisher, Vegas. Top have proven expe- nationwide. Outdoor Singles Network, estab- seeks attorney: The Northern Rockies office applicantswill rience in fund-raising, computers, personnel Elizabeth A. Marston, editor, lished bi-monthly newsletter, no forwarding in Bozeman is seeking an individual with management, interpersonal communications; Box 1090, Paonia, CO 81428-1090 fees. $35/1 year, $7/trial issue and information. strong litigation background/court experi- 7. Owner: High Country Foundation, Box OSN-HCN, Box 2031, McCall, ill 83638. ence. 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Box 5339; FREE Resource Guide welcome/city location considered. Farm, Reno, NY 89513. No phone inquiries. People 9. Extent and nature of circulation: Box 4004, St. George, UT 84770 pack train management, resort and multi-<- il of color and women encouraged to apply. Avg. No.." Actual No. national business experience. Intermountain (lxI8b) Each Issue This Issue West. Housing/reasonable income. Travel A. Total # copie~ 3/4 MILE ON COLORADO RIVER, just off and/or limited personal care negotiable. printed 14,883 14,600 WANTED: CEO Resumes, superior references. Peter Keys, 1-70, minutes to Grand Junction, 114 acres for Patagonia Incorporated B. Paid circulation, Box 102, Hereford, AZ 85615 (602/64'7- (60 irrigated), in private, marvelous red rock and Lost ArrowCorporation 1. Dealer/counter 7435). (lxI8p) canyon. Stone 6,000 sq. ft. 1890s home under Must be able to lead 5.10 In the big trees near waterfall and 5-acre lake with sales 5-1 0 .mountatns .and either kayak Class Canadian geese. Kokopelli bike trail, river 2. Mail In 4 or surf Pipeline February. The TRINITY'S trips. $500,000. Treece-Land Sales, 303/858- subscriptions 13,246 13,761 flrm's highly technlcal/ quallty 3960. (2xI8p) sporting clothes are manufactured CHILDREN C. Total paid circulation by independent contractors (Bl and B2) 13,297 13,761 AT THE END OF A COUNTRY ROAD. throughout the world selling Living Along America's D. Free distribution wholesale, retail and mail order on Unspoiled natural beauty surrounds this stun- Nuclear Highway samples 1,044 50 four continents. Need a CEO ning 105±-acre country property near Paonia, Tad Bortimus and Scott McCartney immune to jetlag to inspire and Colorado. Enjoy your own views, stream, E. Total distribution monitor contractors and no more Journalists' inside look at the lives of deer and elk. Country fresh 3 bedroom, 1-3/4 (C&D) 14,341 13,811 those most closely involved in our than 500 employees, to achieve bath home nestled at the base of a majestic F. Copies not distributed c ,8,eE(~~i. quality w,lth high, social nuclear industry. mountain. 45± acres of grass hay and pasture. 1. Office use (left over) 542 789 and ecological Integrity. These Paper: 0-8263-143'3-3 $16.95 $279,000. FB14. For details, call Bob Lario, 2. Returns from news slow-growth. htgh-proflt com- RE/MAX Mountain West, 800/331·6090 in panies give away a profit to contro- state, or 303/527-4877. (lxI8h) agents o o versial environmental causes. G. Total (E&F) 14,883 14,600 Foreign language and dtverstty GREEN GROWS THiS GARDEN! An valued. exciting opportunity in Moab's beautiful red I certify that the statements. m?de by me Please send cover letter and UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO PRESS rock country. 'Buy this well-established, prof- resume to: P.O. Box 150 ALBUQUERqUE, NEW MEXCIO 87131-1591 are correct and complete. • itable nursery business with lots of expansion Ventura. CA 93002 At books/ores. or call (505) 277-4810 FAX /·800-622·8667 potential. Price includes business; nice 3 bed- Attn: Stephanie Smith Edwin H. Marston, Publisher room home; _1 acre and Jots of fruit trees. Tom or Suzinne, Coldwell Banker Arches Realty, Mnab, Utah, 800/842-6622. (3xI7b) Published in High Country News Ocr. 4, 1993.

'w", ,,,

SAVE COLORADO! Controlled by the United States Air What is Force, the Colorado Air NationalGuard the effect of is trying to steal the air space over Military Operations wilderness, private lands, homes and Areas (M.O.A.) .and MilitaryTralninq ranches in southern .Colorado. They Routes (M.T.R.)to Colorado? want to establish low level training POSITIVE _ NEGAI!VE areas and fly their F-165 at TREETOP lEVE~ SIX DAYS A WEEK! Economy 0 \£. Environment 0 ~ They want to establish low level military Sodal 0 ~ training areas to be held in Health 0 1IlI_ PERPETUITY (fOREVER). Animal Life 0 ~ WE WON'T GET A SECOND Plant Life 0 \G CHANCE TO STOP THEM! It isvery possible that by the year 1997, the Colorado Air NationalGuard could The recently passed Colorado be phased out because we basically He.lp H'Sh (ourlt7 AfW5 report on the Vest'.'> nai4r~1 Wilderness Bill, which protects don't need it anymore. With the 900,000 acres of pristine wilderness questionable future of the Colorado Air against motorized resources and. carnmunitie~ thraus}, vehicles, is USELESS National Guard, they certainly don't chansin~ when the Colorado Air NationalGuard need to spend $2,000,000 of can flyover it at TREETOP LEVELAND taxpayers' money to accomplish this {h~ onnua 1 Com bine.d federal Carnpaisn. * DESTROY ITS SOUTUDE! ENVIRONMENTAL RAPEwhen our Colorado schools are underfunded. Contribute to The HIBh Country Foundation Please aCt NOW to save Colorado' #- or lose one third of it FOREVER! eFe l05Q

l't the federal wo rkpla ee . (,h~r ...t.j drLv'e. For more information regarding MOAs (Paid forby the call 1-800·892-0135 Say No Way MOA Alliance) '- , .. , ,.". ... ." High Country News - October 4. 1993 - 7

._._I~~ _·"'_' .. "'\.IL~_l...... JI;.._.!>.j. "".1 Two Nevadans in searcl

by Jon Christensen

ohn Livermore helped set off the greatest gold boom in American j history when "he convinced New- mont Mining Co. to prospect for "dis- seminated gold" near Carlin, Nev., in the 1960s. Disseminated gold is sometimes called "microscopic" or "no-see-urn" gold because ore particles are too small to show color in a prospecting pan. Each ounce of gold is diffused evenly through tons of rock in relatively low-grade deposits. These become .valuable ore bodies when the price of gold rises high enough. Geologists theorize that the stage for this latest gold boom was set mil- lions of years ago when a tectonic colli- sion added a chunk of Nevada to the North American continent. Disseminated gold ~eposits are concentrated in an area of northern Nevada where geologists say the two plates crashed together. Liver- more ~as the first person to prove the theory. The Carlin area, 23 miles east ·of Elko.in northeastern Nevada, is now the richest gold mining "district to 'the coun- try, containing one-quarter of the known gold in the U.S. But Livermore, a mod- est man, tells the discovery story in ~ straightforward way, crediting col- leagues at Newrnont and others. He says the real boom in Carlin-type mines came when President Nixon unfettered the dollar from the gold standard and the price of gold skyrocketed. That galva- Barrick's Goldstrike mine, one of the largest in the world, in Nevada's Carlin trend nized mining companies to move moun- J tains to get at Nevada's "invisible gold." Almost, Livermore is now a partner in three chaired the Sierra Club's national com- creek drainage, it seems, either has a public lar gold mines, and .mining has made him mittee on mining. mine in it or once did. mines an wealthy. But the geologist still works Soft-spoken but strong-willed, Livermore recalls tramping all over and the l out of a small office in Reno where tech- Miller says he prefers behind-the-scenes the ranges in the 1960s, when "we had ties. That Miller calls nical journals, maps, books and maga- agreements with mining companies the whole state to ourselves." Then the damage, zines spill from every surface. The rather than protests and legal appeals. boom in the price of gold in the 1970s ing reforr these mines inside of his. car looks about the same, But he is not afraid to talk to hostile brought people flooding in to stake with a prospector's pick and work boots crowds, telling mine workers, for claims. We cross over legendary As" what I th thrown on top of the pile. instance, why an inadequate environ- "trends" of gold deposits, where geolo- heroic as in: in the Ur Livermore came to Nevada as a mental assessment of a project will delay gists surmise that fault lines in the by the s young man after World War II to follow job startups. He has paid a price for his earth's crust allowed geothermal water seemed "Tbis is what he calls his prospecting "instinct." activism: A private lab Miller owns with to permeate the surrounding rock with .rnents to Lanky and fit at 75; he still roams the a partner has lost business because of his microscopic are. Miller and Livermore Bum backcountry, prospecting 'and visiting convictions. name them as we pass: Getchell, Battle destruction on ing lot s; promising mining properties. He is also Millerhelped write Nevada's first Mountain, Cortez. Today these deposits If it can't a lifelong member of the Sierra Club. As mining reclamation law, adopted in 1989 support massive complexes of open pit a truly heroic by the state Legislature. Livermore mines. Near Elko we fly along the Carlin a member of a family of conservationists On the in the San Francisco Bay area, he was worked with the Nevada Mining Associ- trend, where 10 huge open pits pock- The scale." raised with a tin hiking cup in his hand. ation to gain industry support for the mark the sage mountains, one after the northeast Glenn Miller, 42, got to know Liv- bill. When we first meet to talk about other, for 50 miles. ruggedly ermore because he has been the environ- mining and the environment, both men The view from high above seems - we_ drive mental pointman on mining 'in Nevada emphasize that they don't necessarily misleading in both its awesomeness and more rep for ] 5 years. A professor of environmen- represent their colleagues. its simplicity. The pits look like the where yc tal and resource sciences at the Universi- "A lot of people in industry think .msides of misshapen hand-coiled bowls Disc ty of Nevada, Miller ·came to Reno after I'm too liberal," Livermore says. thrown by clumsy giants in the raw is often t finishing graduate school at the Univer- "If John is seen as the left wing of earth. But the busyness of buildings and as much sity of California in the late 1970s and the mining industry, I guess I would be pipelines and trucks suggests a Lil-. knowled working for the EPA in Georgia for a seen as the right wing of the environ- liputian industry neatly contained on a nomics. year. He "was raised on a farm in north- mental movement," Miller says. "I've vast and empty landscape. Miller calls perfect eastern Montana and looks like he could heen accused of being too friendly with these mines heroic as in: "This is wasn't a still buck a few bales. miners." Miller says that Livermore destruction on a truly heroic scale." promisin Miller joined the Sierra Club in the showed him that "not all miners wear Nevada's current gold boom dwarfs zone. A early stages of Nevada's wilderness bat- black hats. But I sometimes wonder if any in the history of the West. It also antinion: tles and was immediately taken aback by the rest of the industry is listening." reveals why the 1872 Mining Law, gold thei how "mining companies claimed wilder- Their caveats remind me of the rari- forged in the California gold rush, is ripe At I ness would kill the industry." When he ty ofreal dialogue about mining reform. for reform. In the last decade the United meet lac looked into their claims, he says, he States has gone from being an importer for the I found mining in the state was unregulat- Upside-down pyramids to an exporter of gold. U.S. production pendenc ed. Since then bringing mining under Our travels together begin at the increased ten-fold to roughly 10 million show us environmental control has consumed Reno airport. Barbara Rowell, a volun- ounces of gold a year worth around $3.5 the large him. teer pilot for Lighthawk, the non-profit billion. any Fore While mining in Nevada boomed "environmental air force," has agreed to Last year the General Accounting In the e during the last decade, Miller has fly us over the mines of northern Neva- Office found that Nevada accounted for out here worked long hours for no pay, reviewing da. As her single-engine Cessna 286 more than 80 percent of the $1.2 billion cent of 1 every new mineplan, every agency doc- banks toward the rising sun, Livermore worth of hardrock minerals taken from claims. ument and decision. Until last year, he begins pointing out mines below. Every federal lands in 12 Western states.

8 - High Country News - October 4, 1993 ,tftrtoq I,,,, bBTN+VZ

earch of mining reform with Independence-Min- the decision? That's the tough one," This is where Miller breaks ranks ing Co., a subsidiary of a Livermore agrees with Miller that . with many other environmentalists. .. Luxembourg corporation, agencies should be able to say no to min- Instead of reviewing each miningpro- ,~"s~"" d.,~ which bought up most of ing .in very special places. What about posal to determine suitability - a key to the claims. Burns Basin? Livermore hedges. In the mining reform for most environmental- Independence Min- late 1940s he recalls hunting deer here ists - Miller says agency land-use plans ing first came to the For- - "it ~as a beautiful area." But-he also should designate sensitive areas for spe- est Service in 1978 with a says his company bid on the mine. "I cial protection or withdraw them from proposal to develop a thoughtit was an interesting property." mining altogether. He points out that fed- mine that would disturb But Miller also hedges on Burns eral environmental laws already provide 700 acres, Carlson says Basin. "I'm not sure I would disallow it for public involvement in these deci- the agency required an now," he says. The Independence Range sions. "The burden on the public is environmental impact is beautiful, he says, but not unique. The high," Miller says. "But I'm leery of statement for the mine - nearby Ruby Mountains are protected by putting too much power in the regula- a first in Nevada. There a wilderness designation, Miller says, tor's hands." was little controversy, and the Toiyabe Mountains of central Livermore says he would prefer to Carlson recalls. "The Nevada would be a higher priority for see the decision "taken out of the politi- Sierra Club didn't even protection. cal arena" by some form of blue-ribbon respond." Miller quickly adds, however, that committee, such as the broad-based Miller looks sheep- his standard for reclamation in the Inde- resource advisory councils that Interior ish. "I got it but didn't pendence Range would be so high that it Secretary Bruce Babbitt has proposed to know what was going would probably make mining pro- replace grazing boards. on," he says. That was hibitively expensive. Where the scenic But Miller is convinced that deci- just after he arrived in values of the landscape are so valuable, sions will always be political and people Nevada. Miller says, miners should be requiredto have to fight for their beliefs. "The pub- "Everything would . do "restoration" rather than just "recla- lic will have to fight for high standards be in and out, local, all mation." in land-use plans." reclaimed," Carlson con- Livermore doesn't argue with this As we headback down the mountain tinues. Not long after, the approach."There have to be strictercon- . through_a canyon filled with wildflow- company proposed more trois on special areas," he says. But he ers, Carlson offers a cautionary example mining, in Burns Basin, worries that "unsuitability:' in the House about political pressure. Independence Patany Pit, and Mill bill could get out of hand. Instead of Mining is drilling in a canyon north of Canyon, and these were excluding 5-to-1O percent of Nevada here that is home to a rare plant, the handled under less rigor- from mining, as Miller predicts could Grimes vetchling, he says, and "some ous environmentalassess- happen, Livermore wonders if 60-to-70 people feel we should avoid the whole ments. Illustrating how percent of the state might be found area." At the same time the company is mines can expand incre- unsuitable for mining. the largest taxpayer in Elko County, and more than 150 people showed up at a :arlin trend mentally to take over Writers of the House bill, such as mountains, two open pits staff member Jim Zoia, say the law has recent meeting to support the mine's and piles of waste rock to give agencies wide latitude so they expansion plans. can apply their authority in widely vary- "People told us we should put more las a Almost all came from gold mines on now sprawl for five miles along the public land in Nevada. Yet many of the southern end of the Independence Range. ing situations. But both Miller and Liver- emphasis on local people than on other more worry that broadbrushed discretion -resources. It would have been suicide to over mines are owned by foreign companies, And the company plans to double the can be twisted by different administra- speak out," Carlson says. , had and the U.S. Treasury receives no royal- size of the mine. As we clear the top of a ridge, the tions. They would rather see authority n the ties. That, combined with environmental exercised. closer to the ground through 970s damage, is what keeps the call for min- mine comes into view and Burns Basin existing land-use plans. continued on next page .take ing reform alive. . lies below. It was. once a lovely green dary As we land in Elko, Livermore asks bowl lined with aspen trees. We can see eolo- what I think of the greatest gold district that because half of it is still there. The other half has been torn apart. An open I the in the United States. I am dumbfounded DUCK VALLEY vater by the scale; from the air the mines pit has been gouged into the mountain- INDIAN RESE.RVI\TION with seemed like inverse pyramids, monu- side across from us. Talus slopes of rub- more .ments to extraction. ble define the far side of the drainage as 3attle Bumper stickers in the airport park- it heads down Burns Creek. Exploration oosits ing lot say: "Mining works for Nevada. roads switchback in horizontal cuts sn pit If it can't be grown, it has to be mined." above the mine, moving toward a drill ::arlin rig. Jock- On the ground Conversation ebbs as black-bot- The Independence Range rises tomed clouds threaten an early June 80 " the northeast of Elko, gently at first and then snowstorm. It is on mountaintops like this that eerns ruggedly to more than 10,000 feet. As sand - we_ drive along its eastern flank, Liver- the industry's pre-eminent right to mine e the more repeats an industry truism: Ore is on public land clashes with changing Dowis where you find it. ideas about protecting the natural world. ~ raw Discovering gold or other minerals Miners fiercely defend their right to ~sand is often the resultof serendipity, he says, mine on public land, which is enshrined in the 1872 Mining Law. Environmental- L Lil-. as much as an instinct for prospecting, knowledge of geology, tenacity and eco- ists say it is time for agencies to have on a , calls nomics: The Independence Range is a .some discretion to.declare certain public lands unsuitable for mining. Iis is perfect example, he says, because it wasn't on geological maps that showed Reform bills in Congress take oppo- .·:BaH1e •Mount."" lwarfs promising "windows" to the Carlin-type site sides. The House bill would allow t also zone. A chemical company looking for the secretaries of the Agriculture and Law, antimony didn't realize it had discovered Interior departments to declare virtually is ripe gold there until the assays came back. any area unsuitable if mining would Jnited At the junction of a dirt road we adversely affect other resource values. " porter meet Jack Carlson,Forest Service ranger The Senate bill maintains the status quo, uction for the district encompassing the Inde- which leaves public lands open to min- lillian pendence Range. Carlson has offered to ing unless an area is withdrawn from d $3.5 show us around his district, which has mineral entries by the secretaries of Inte- the largest liardrock mining workload of rior or Agriculture, the president or mting any Forest Service district in the country. Congress. ed for In the early 1980s, staking wars broke How would Livermore and Miller Dillion out here, Carlson says, and now 80 per- settle this dispute? "Mining has to be taken bff its pedestal," says Miller, "and I from cent of the district is covered by mining tates. claims. Most of the work these days is put alongside other uses. But who makes HIgh Country News - October 4, 1993 - 9

f, •. UneR Tif9M l

Jon Christensen A rig drills for gold in the Independence Mountains

Two Nevadans •••

continuedfrom previous page stop the mine. But Horizon Gold had room for imaginative solutions. But leased the mineral rights under Tuscaro- unless it's planned from the beginning it Town on the edge ra from the owners of the mining claims won't happen, especially with the cost of From the top of the mountain, look- patented long ago. 'the surface titles to moving rock." ing down Burns Creek andrwest across the lind abovewere confused, Parks Both men agree that the local com- the wide Independence Valley, we could adds, because the plat map of the town munity should have a say in what their see the historic gold and silver mining site had disappeared. post-mining landscape will look like. town of Tuscarora perched on the distant What saved the town? The price of The community's decisions should be UMining works foothills. During the late 1800s, Tuscaro- gold fell below $350 an ounce, Parks included in a Bureau of Land Manage- ra was- home to some 1-0,000 people. explains, "and luckily it was a break- ment land-use plan for the area, they say, These days the population hovers around even operation." We walk from the hotel and in cooperative planning between for Nevada. If a dozen in the winter and 25 in the sum- to the edge of the pit in the backyards local, state and federal agencies. mer. across the street. Parks says he's not Parks points out that most of the it can't be We have decided to spend the night against mining. "I like ambiguities. All people who live iri Tuscarora today in Tuscarora, to see how people liv-e my materials in ceramics are mined. But chose to live 'in a ghost town. He and among the ruins of mining. OUf guide is not in my front yard." others would welcome turning the mine grown, it has Dennis Parks, who runs a pottery school For now a ghost-town silence has into a state park so that mining would out of an old hotel he has restored. Parks returned to Tuscarora. "It's so quiet," never again occur in the heart of Tus- to be mined." moved his family here in the early Miller marvels. "I forgot what it's like." carora. But the mining company, which 1970s, when Tuscarora was a ghost The pit is slowly filling with water. is based in Colorado, and the owner of - ..Bumper sticker town. He jokes that the creaky two-story The swimming hole is becoming.a good- the patented mining claims, who lives in boarding house where we'll stay was a .'sized lake, and a rowboat bobs on the far Hawaii, refuse to discuss their plans with in Nevada mobile home in the old days, moved shore. Horizon Gold keeps a couple of residents. from boomtown to boomtown - places workers around to do reclamation work The company, Horizon Gold, has with names like Eureka -and Cornucopia and close the mine. Parks says one of the budgeted $75,000 for a reclamation plan - before coming to rest in Tuscarora mop-up workers told him: "The future of that is endorsed by state officials and the during its heyday. mining in Nevada is reclamation." BLM. Cleanup workers are trying to take Mining has come back to Tuscarora Miller says mining isn't necessarily care of the most' expensive jobs, round- twice during this latest gold boom." As "a big deal if there's good reclamation. ing off the waste rock dumps and leach we look around town, Livermqre,. If not, it's a long-term problem." pads with a bulldozer, reducing cyanide explains the recen_t history. The first . The lake has the forlorn appearance levels in the leach pads and ponds, and time, he says, a small mining company _ of what it, is: a mine, soon to be aban- seeding ripped-up areas. The company assayed samples of the, waste rock piles doned. But looking over the. water, liv- plans to post a bond of around $10,000 from the historic mines. Those that ermore says "there could be a destination in October to cover reseeding in case this "kicked" with enough microscopic gold resort here." He says it with a laugh but season's planting fails. were piled in a heap and the gold was he's serious. Miller is skeptical. "If it doesn't leached out. It was a relatively small- "You could make it attractive," Liv- grow, what will they do with $1O,000?" scale, low-cost and low-impact opera- ermore argues. Many environmentalists Miller says this is the classic problem tion, Livermore says, 'and probably argue that miners should fillin their pits with mines that wait until the end to turned a nice profit. , when they're done. But Livermore says reclaim the land. A proper reclamation But the next time mining returned to that would usually be too expensive. of the Tuscarora mine would cost close -ia Tuscarora, an open pit nearly swallowed "But some pits could end up as an to $1 million, he estimates. the town. The Horizon Gold Corp. was attraction," he says. "You could carve The bottom line of reclamation after the "halo" of low-grade are sur- figures and 'make it an art form. Instead should be eliminating contamination and rounding the played out veins of the of shunning them as eyesores, maybe restoring the ecosystem, Miller contin- glory hole - the principal historic mine people will come look at them. One of ues, although many of the 'signs of min- shaft - which had filled with water and our pits. is a beautiful. illustration, a text ing can be left on the landscape. become a local swimming hole. During book of geology. Some pits could be "There's no reason to make this historic the late 1980s, the pit gnawed its way used as landfills. Some will end up. as district look like the surrounding coun- closer and closer to town. beautiful lakes.'" tryside." Miller agrees that "there's lots.of As the sun sets, we walk to the out- Parks and other re~id'O!Jtsfought to . ~-, .•.. ~ .)--,1' ~ ;, - - . 10-i'I1gh Country News - October 4.1993 skirts of town. On the hillside above Tuscarora, cone-shaped piles of yellow PRESER~AT10NIST' _ , EN~IRO and gray crushed Jock spill from the Miners get personal "'E'~E ST NNENTAL EXT t.OCKED U,OODPOL/TELY FOR RE"'$rs ••~ mouths of shafts that Livermore says o OUr YEAR UR JOBs. NO OFOU" PUBLIC S lItHILE You H were dug by Chinese workers in the late lit lItE'RE LANDS AN AVE GOING TO 8 0 TAI(EN 19th century. E •••• "Look at all that work," Livermore with Miller exclaims. "Those dumps up the hill are from promotional shafts sunk around ENO, Nev. - Mine workers based Mineral Policy Center challenged 1,200 feet or so. That gray stuff is all and other angry residents of the decision before the Interior Board dead rock. But that's the first thing they. R the busted eastern Nevada of Land Appeals. They charged the would do. It was a promotional thing." town of Ely traveled across the state ,assessment violated BLM 'regulations "There was a lot more money this summer to lay the blame for their and federal environmental laws. invested in 19th century mines than ever economic woes on the doorstep of one Because the mine will cause more came out," Miller says. man. than 640 acres of new disturbance, "If you did that today y'Ou would go Some 40 people rode a bus char- they demanded a full environmen- bust," Livermore responds. "Like Sum- tered by a fledgling chapter of the min- tal impact statement. mitville:' ing support group People for the West! The Sierra Club has backed off The Summitville disaster last year for the seven-hour trip from Ely to from appeals that threatened jobs before, deprived miners of one of their favorite Reno. They were joined by close to 60 Miller said, but this time the BLM went Nevada Public Lands Alliance arguments: that unregulated mines are a more protesters for a noon rally at the too far. Miller said Phil Hocker of the poster thing of the past. The Environmental. University of Nevada, Reno, where Mineral Policy Center urged him to year," Magma worker Jackie Urbans Protection Agency has been spending Glenn Miller teaches environmental "make them follow the law." said. "When 1 get laid off, I know some $38,000 a day to stern contamina- . and resource sciences. In early June, before any hearings whose front yard to camp in." tion of a .river from a leaking tailings Last spring, Miller, on behalf of could be held on the appeal, the new If the BLM had done an EIS, "this pond at the Colorado mine, abandoned the Sierra Club, appealed a decision by director of BLM, Jim Baca, concurred project would have been on line now," by its bankrupt owner, Galactic the Bureau of Land Management with the environmentalists. He direct- Miller responded. Resources (HCN,6/14/93). approving a massive copper mining ed the Ely district BLM office to pre- ·"A lot of usdorr'r have jobs," Both mining reform bills in project in the historic Robinson mining pare an EIS. According to agency offi'- someone in the crowd shouted. "We Congress would establish an abandoned district just outside Ely. Magma Cop- cials, the study will delay the project end up on welfare as you guys go back mine reclamation fund to deal with the per said it would employ 500 construc- for a year or more. and forth," said a woman holding an legacy left behind by busted mining tion workers for two years, then add - Miller said that the Sierra Club "Ely needs Magma" sign. companies. Cleaning up the mistakes of 550 workers for the estimated 16-year and Mineral Policy Center agreed to "I've never been in a position to stop the past is an easy point of agreement for life of the mine. "expedite" the EIS, after negotiating this," said Miller. "I am in favor of this. miners and environmentalists, although The promise of a new boom with Magma, the BLM, and after It's not going to stop. It is going forward. the bills in Congress disagree on how seemed to come just in time for Ely, heavy lobbying from state officials, This is a good project. But what the cleanups would be funded. which has gone through boom and including Nevada Sens. Richard Bryan BLM did was illegal. It's the BLM's A federal fund could help restore bust numerous- times since mining and Harry Reid. But that was not fault. And it's Magma's fault." Tuscarora if the mining company fails to began there in-1868. When the last enough for the people of Ely who Miller's willingness to talk do the job. But Miller and Livermore working gold mine in the area shut brought their protest to Miller's office. seemed to defuse some of the anger. agree that Tuscarora is in pretty good down last year, 74 workers were laid "Ely is dying," said Rich Hasler, a After the rally dispersed, Pat Davison, shape. They say cleaning up polluted off and unemployment climbed to 11 Magma geologist who organized the the California field coordinator for streams and stopping ongoing sources of percent. rally at the University of Nevada. People for the West!, defended the contamination are much higher priori- Local BLM officials concluded "We're concerned a year to 18 months will kill the town. We're proposing to group's decision to bring the protest to ties. C there .would be "no significant impact" from the expansion of three existing reclaim one of the biggest eyesores in Miller's workplace. "I wouldn't say it A symbolic sacrifice area open pits on private land and a new Nevada and the Sierra Club is stopping was confrontational but high profile," she said. "That's the risk local people The next day, on the drive back into tailings impoundment, waste dumps, it. They're really messing with peo- took in deciding to do this. The preser- Elko, Livermore and Miller talk about and pipelines on 1,861 acres of nearby ple's lives." vation community has driven people to the .likely legacy of the current gold public land. In fact, agency and mine Miller cameby on his lunch break a point of-desperation." boom in Nevada. We've scheduled a officials said, the operation would to watch the protest and respond to the On the sidelines, Miller talked to visit to the Goldstrike mine, one of the reclaim much of the historic distur- charges. "They have a right to bring Hasler and Eric Seedorff, two organiz- largest open pits in the world, smack in bance. The BLM's district and state the war to my personal life, my non- ers of the rally who work for Magma. the middle of the nearby Carlin trend. offices approved the Robinson project Sierra Club life," he said. "But this has They apologized to Miller. "I hope it The 1 million ounces of gold that Cana- environmental assessment in March. gotten a little personal." . isu't personal," Seedorff said. "We dian-owned American Barrick Resources Thatwas when the trouble began. When the protesters real ized he hope to work with you in the future;" Corp. pulled from the Goldstrike mine The Sierra Club's Nevada Toiyabe was standing nearby, they came over -Jon Christensen last year equaled the total U.S. produc- Chapter and the Washington, D.C.- to confront him. "I can't wait for a tion of gold a decade ago. It all came out of an open pit a mile and' half long and a mile wide on public land that Barrick shares with Newmont Mining Co. Livermore, who is a partner in a nearby mine, calls the Carlin trend a - "sacrifice area." When mined it will be the most spectacular hole in the ground, he says, "like the Grand Canyon." It also illustrates, he quickly adds, how the value of gold must be weighed against other resources. Miller acknowledges that gold overwhelms other resource val- ues along the Carlin trend. -But the unprecedented bonanza also produces a responsibility, he says, 'and the means to protect other resources In the California gold rush more than a century ago, miners mane up the rules for mining in the West. "First come, first served" became the basis "for the 1872 Mining Law. Ever since, envi- ronmental regulation has struggled to keep pace, starting in the 1880s, when the California courts and Legislature forced the first environmental regula- tions on mining to stop the awesome destruction done by hydraulic mining. A century later, the Carlin trend is where gold mining has boomed to gigan- Kit Miller tic scale, with huge impacts to the land angry crowd of mine supporters confronts Glenn Miller and water and unforeseen consequences AD. continued on next page High Country News - October 4, 1993 - II • • .,. ,'. ',' '. • .. ,Co -,

Two Nevadans search •••

continuedfrom previous page acres of public land under which lies an labeled the Barrick patents a "great gold estimated 20 million ounces of gold. heist" and "government land giveaway." for the future. The ore is worth more than $7 bil- Babbitt decided to make an example Last spring, the Barrick Goldstrike lion at current prices. The company of Barrick, blasting it as a foreign com- mine became a symbol at the center of faced just one last hurdle: paying a $5 an pany trying to benefit from a new fast- the mining reform debate when Interior acre fee to patent the land for a total pur- track patent procedure before reform Secretary Bruce Babbitt singled out the chase price of just $5,190. could be enacted. Because it is on public Canadian-owned company for trying to The move was completely legal land, the Goldstrike mine could produce gain legal title to the land it is mining, under the 1872 Mining Law, But critics a hefty royalty for the government. But Barrick had completed the next-to-last such as the Mineral Policy Center, a not if the land is privatized. Babbitt step toward securing ownership of 1,038 non-profit group advocating reform, yanked 'the authority of the BLM's state HoW"to break the itnpasse over mining reform

opinion by John livermore mittee on finding common ground and give the most to make a reform compro- and Glenn Miller common values. mise work. EXPLORATION: Both bills aim to DEVELOPMENT OF MINES: he debate over mining reform is ensure free access to open public lands for Title 11 of the Rahall bill is where most so polarized that even the most prospecting if it entails a minimal impact, miners and environmentalists part compa- Taccommodating members of the no road building and immediate reclama- ny. With its detailed list of very strong two camps can agree only that change is tion, But after a sampling of surface rocks environmental proscriptions, a strict inter- coming - not what it should be. with a pick and geological maps, drilling is pretation of Rahall's bill could practically Now, two very different mining required for seriousprospecting. Fortunate- eliminate all mining in the West. Mining reform bills are headed for a showdown ly, exploratory drilling these days can be simply cannot be done without some in a congressional conference committee. done with -drill rigs mounted on caterpillar environmental damage. Livermore The House bill sponsored by Rep. Nick treads, which don't require roads or drill On the other hand, the Craig bill com- Rahall, D-W.Va., represents the environ- pads. That should be the industry standard pletely ignores environmental reforms that calls the mental position. The Senate bill spon- for exploration. much- of the mining industry is already sored by Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, rep- In principle, exploration should be putting into practice, This could he the resents the mining industry. encouraged rather than encumbered toughest, most complicated battle in con- Carlin trend a They could hardly be farther apart. with regulation. An advance notice with ference committee. But it doesn't have to Nevertheless, we believf a .~ensible a bond to cover any damages should be be. It's time for the law and the mining "sacrifice solution is still possible. sufficient for prospecting activities that industryto catch up to modem environ- Although the move to charge a roy- do not disturb the land, such as mental concerns. alty on public-lands mining has attract- exploratory drilling with track-mounted Compromise is appropriate here. But C' area" ed the most attention, 'a more important rigs. Prospecting under notice should be it must be informed by people who under- issue for miners and environmentalists subject to clear environmental proscrip- stand the consequences of the language of is abolishing surface patents for mining tions, such as not damaging riparian law. The Rahall bill's blanket prohibitions claims, establishing strong environmen- areas or building side hill roads. But a against damaging riparian areas and tal regulations and reclamation stan- permit should be required if land will be adversely affecting groundwater aquifers, dards, and outlining the degree of dis" disturbed by bulldozing a road, for for instance, would either stop many cretion given to land managers to allow example: In any case, there should be major mines entirely or simply be unen- or prohibit mining on any given piece harsh penalties for violations. forceable. Rahall's environmental and of ground. Neither bill quite strikes this bal- reclamation standards should be simplified Both camps have been tantalizingly ance. It could be done with minimal to mandate the protection of key public close to consensus in the past. But partici- rewriting of the Rahall bill. resource values while maintaining the pants in those good-faith dialogues repre- LOCATION OF ClAIMS, FEES ability of state and federal agencies to sented organizations and companies AND PATENTS: We believe Title Iof write regulations to fit local conditions. unwilling to commit to a compromise that the Rahall bill contains essential reforms Some of the requirements of might be labeled a sell-out. that in fact are embraced not only by most Rahall's Title II, which are particularly Offering up the following proposal, environmentalists but supported by many onerous to the mining industry, are real- we speak for ourselves. We are simply two miners as well. The Craig bill ignores ly not necessary because they are Westerners. We think we have incorporat- many of these essential reforms. Foremost already adequately covered by other ed the best features of both bills bound for is eliminating the surface patent on mining laws. These include provisions for pub- the conference committee. claims under which miners can acquire lic hearings on demand and lengthy FINDINGS AND PURPOSE: public lands for $2.50-to-$5 an acre. The . timetables for permitting and reviews. Many important new laws begin with Rahall bill offers a good alternative, estab- Rather than setting up a whole new sys- findings that state the philosophy and lishing an annual rental fee of $5-to-$25 tem for public hearings and review of intent that guided Congress and the pur- an acre. While a mining claim is active, mining proposals, permitting should be pese of the law. For the new mining law the renter enjoys rights to the surface and reviewed under appropriate state and these should include preserving incentive minerals underground. With this protec- federal laws, including the National by allowing prospectors to search for min- tion, legitimate miners have no need for a Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and erals on public lands that have not been surface patent and the land remains in the Federal Land Policy and Manage- withdrawn from mining; guaranteeing a public ownership after mining. ment Act (FLPMA). These laws already fair return to the nation for mineral wealth The Rahall bill also includes due work although they certainly need to be extracted from public lands; and ensuring diligence requir.ements for developing a made to work better. that environmental values guide mining claim, with a reasonable write-off The elements of Ranall's Title II vent~res to protect public resources for against the rental fee for some develop- that should be preserved include the future generations. ment and restoration work. Rahall also requirement for a detailed plan of oper- The Rahall bill has no such section. requires standardized 40-acre claims to ations after initial exploration and bond- The "findings and purpose" section conform to the legal subdivisions of ing for reclamation should a mining of the Craig bill is essentially a pro- existing land surveys and eliminate con- company fail to carry out its responsi- mining platform. It should be rewritten fusing extralateral rights that allow min- bility to restore the land. Rahall's gen- to satisfy backers of the Rahall bill. ers to pursue ore veins beyond their eral reclamation requirement to restore Although the committee may not be claim boundaries. These are good the land to its previous productivity or able to write this statement of principles moves tosimplify land-management ·better is good. A mined landscape before battling over specific issues, this boundaries. This section of the law is should be left in a state that blends with section of the bill should focus the com- where the mining industry can afford to the surrounding topography and fits

12 - High Country News - October 4. 1993 office to grant.the patent and stopped the secured without a patent, that"would be specific number and.distrusts the mining nothing illegal..lt's just .a colossal process cold. Although Babbitt has acceptable. Barrick also supports a recla- industry's pleas of poverty. Miller says impact," Miller says. acknowledged that Barrick's application mation- fee on all mining, he says, even though Barrick has been unfairly Miller leaves us then for a family is probably too far along to deny, the' whether it occ~rs on public or private hammered, it is "an apt symbol for the reunion, and McDonough accompanies company is still waiting. land. issues that are coming to a head in the Livermore and me od the 50-mile drive" At the Elko airport, we meet John Barrick could probably afford to pay debate over mining reform. west through the Carlin trend to the McDonough, the manager of the Gold- even the 12.5 percent gross royalty advo- Before Barrick, no company had Goldstrike mine. There, every hour of strike mine, and Pat Garver, an attorney cated by Babbitt earlier this year. But a ever prepared an environmental impact the day, trucks haul 190-ton loads of for Barrick. who has been working on tax at that level would eat up most if not statement to mine on Bureau of Land rocks out of an 800-foot-deep pit. mining reform. When I ask about the all of the profit margin at many mines, ".-Management land in Nevada. The prob- The trucks haul 22,000 tons of rock controversy, Garver says Barrick simply including those where he is a partner, lem, Miller points out, is the sheer mag- an hour from the hole. Rock that doesn't wants to protect its investment and does Livermore says. Although Livermore nitude of 'contemporary mining and the have enough gold in it to make it worth not oppose paying a royalty. Barrick has supports a royalty, he says a tax on net unpredictability of its long-term impacts. processing is dumped on the mesas of been very successful without a patent, profits would be more equitable. "Here's a company following the waste rock that loom above the pit. Ore- Garver acknowledges, and if the compa- Miller says he agrees with the law, complying with regulations and continued on next page ny's claim to the minerals could be approach, but he hesitates to discuss a having a massive impact. They're doing

- These withdrawals, protective des- ignations, and other specific restrictions on mining and ariy other activity can be laid out in the land-use plans prepared by the BLM and Forest Service. But miners need to know before they spend money exploring an area that they will CURRENT LAW HOUSE BILL 322 SENATE BtLL 755 be able to mine if they find ore. If an 1. "Right to mine" Anyone who discovers Gives wide discretion for Essentially preserves area is withdrawn after a valid cla'im vs. a valuable mineral deposit agencies to declare areas the right to mine . c has been registered and a plan of opera- unsuitable for mining. Miners must gain "Olscretion and on open public lands has tion has been submitted, the miner Unsuitablity" a right to mine it. Agencies Permit required for most approval of a plan of can regulate but cannot mining actlvities. operations. should be compensated for the lost refuse permission. investment. . 2. Patenting claims Allows miners to patent or Prohibits patenting federal Miners pay fair market ABANDONED MINE RECLA· buy land and minerals for land. value to patent land: MATION FUND: This is a good idea. $5 per acre for lode claims Modern mining' c~n help clean' up the and $2.50 per acre for placer claims. ' mistakes of the past. Both bills provide

3. Reclamation No federal reclamation law. Reclamation is required to Refers tostate reclamation for it. Cleaning up polluted streams BLM; Forest Service and restore land to previous laws but sets no federal standards. should be a top priority. This should be Creates abandoned hardrock mine most states have productivity. Bonding required an easy point of agreement for the con- regulations that require to cover full cost. Creates reclamation program. Authorizes reclamation and bonds abandoned minerals mine federal grants to states not to ference committee. But the fund should to cover some costs. reclamation fund funded by exceed revenues to U.S. Treasury be. funded, as it.is in the Rahall bill, and rental fees and 50 percent of from mining. But does not not simply created to await future royalties. specify appropriations. appropriations, as it is in the Craig bill. 4. Royalty No royalty, 8 percent royalty on gross 2 percent royalty on net value of minerals taken from proceeds from mining on ROYALTIES: This is where the public lands. federal lands. conference committee can do what it minimum of ~2.50 per acre $25 location fee and $100 'annual" does best: horse-trade. But.the. royalty -w","'", 5."Eee~ ,1. ', •• ;$3q.cl,:\im location tee and A annual holding fee of $100 annual rental fee gradually holding fee. Holders of fewer should not be 'bargained 'against other per claim. Exemption for rises to $25 per acre after a than 50 claims can do "assess- reforms. A simple compromise is small miner holding 10 or claim [s held for.more than ment" work in lieu of holding fee. fewer claims with active 20 years. Exemption for miners with 10 or appropriate here. Pick a number operating permit who does fewer claims. between Craig's 2 percent of net profits $'100 worth of "assessment _ and Rahall's 8 percent of gross. The tax work" per year per claim. should be set at a level that raises rev- Rental fees a,nd 50 percent of Two-thirds of claim fees and 6. .whe~ the money Claim fees and rentals pay enue without putting mines out of busi- goes for BLM mining law 'royalties go to abandoned royalties go to U.S. Treasury, .' administration costs mine reclamation fund; one-third to states in which ness. The most equitable solution might authorized by Congress; 25 percent of royalties paid mines are located. also be the easiest to manage: a 4-to-6 .to states where mines are surplus goes to the percent proceeds tax, collected through U.S~ Treasury. located and 25 percent to U.S. Treasury. the Internal Revenue Service rather than a new BLM bureaucracy, The state 7. Environmental No environmental Strong environmental pro- Contains no environmental regulations provisions. Other visions to protect groundwater standards. Refers to other of Nevada has collected such a tax from environmental laws apply. and to prevent acid mine existing environmental laws. mines 'since the Comstock days. The tax drainage and other contamination. could be based on the income calcula- tion the IRS uses for the mineral deple- tion allowance. The committee could also consider simply reducing this industry write-off. There has also been talk of impos- future land-use plans. for federal land managers to declare vir- should be permitted only if the land can ing a reclamation fee on all hardrock Reclamation is only a small part of tually any area unsuitable for mining. be restored to its original condition. mines,' not just those on public lands the cost of mining, and it is key to the Rahall also sets up an unrealistic sched- On most public lands, however, which would be affected by a royalty. future of the land. But the details don't ule for reviewing all public lands to mining should be recognized as a valid We think this is a good idea. It would need to be written into the mining law. determine their suitability or unsuitabil- use, permitted so long as good reclama- spread the burden more fairl y among They should be worked out in regula- ity for mining. tion is guaranteed. mines on private and public lands and tions at the federal and state level and The Craig bill avoids the whole With public involvement in plan- direct the money where it is most need- on the ground. issue. ning mandated by law, federal land ed ~ to the ground .• UNSUITABILITY AND DIS- Fashioning an acceptable compro- management agencies should be able to CRETION: This is the real rub in min- mise 'on unsuitability and discretion will decide the highest and best uses for spe- ing reform. And it will be at the center of be very difficult. Although we agree in cific tracts of land. But rather than cre- John Livermore is a geologist, the debate. The 1872 Mining Law does principle on these issues and on specific ating a new review and withdrawal pro- miner and co-founder of Public not allow the Forest Service or Bureau of areas where mining should or should not cedure especially for mining on public Resource Associates, a natural Land Management to deny a mining be acceptable, we have had a hell of a lands, agency discretion should be exer- resources policy group in Reno, Nev. operation, even when strong arguments time agreeing on specific language here. ' cised in the existing land-usc planning Glenn Miller is a professor of environ- are presented that mining would desiroy This is where environmentalists process. Current law already provides mental and resource sciences at the important scenic values, wildlife habitat need to recognize theconcems of miners for administrative withdrawals of public University of Nevada, Reno, who has or recreational opportunities. who believe that in some states public lands from mineral entry. Areas of criti- worked on mining issues for 15 years as The mining reform bill should pro- pressure will be exerted to remove most cal "environmental concern and a member of several environmental vide some discretion for agencies to of the public land from mining. Miners research-natural areas can also provide groups. Their opinions do not reflect limit or prohibit mining in special areas. need to recognize that some places protection by restricting allowable min- the positions of their organizations. The mining industry, however, has deserve to be protected from mining. In ing activities, although these designa- This essay was written with the help of tagged the Rahall bill a "mine killer" certain very special areas, mining should tions are rarely used for that purpose Jon Christensen, Great Basin regional because of the wide latitude it provides be excluded. In other areas, miI!ing now. editor of High Country News. • I - ....----"!"------..;,',·,------~High Country News - October 4, 1993 - 13 Two Nevadans search ••• continuedfrom previous page

bearing rock is added to stockp.iles beside the mill. Inside, a deafening roar continues 24 hours a day as the rock is crushed to the consistency of talcum powder. Ore from the first 500 feet down in the pit. is called oxide ore because it has been oxidized naturally by water perco- lating into the ground. The gold in this ore bonds readily with cyanide when the finely crushed rock is stirred in giant vats containing cyanide solution, But Barrick is now mining deeper unoxidized ore also called sulphide or refractory ore. Plumes of steam escape from a building next door, where this ore is baked in ovens 78 feet long. This oxi- dizes the metals and improves the recov- ery of gold when the ore is mixed with cyanide. McDonough says that what has taken mother nature _millions of years, the autoclaves accomplish in an hour. j After the ore is mixed with cyanide, carbon in the form of crushed and I charred coconut shells is added to the ~solution. Carbon is even more attractive to gold than the cyanide, which can then be reused. Later, a hot cyanide solution- strips the gold from the carbon and the gold in this solution is then attracted to electrically charged steel wool. The steel wool is melted and the molten gold is poured into bars weighing around 50 pounds each. The Goldstrike mine turns out four of these gold .bars on an average day and more than 500,000 tons of waste. Barrick advertises itself as a "growth company." And it is an example

Jon Christensen of both the economies of scale in modern mining and the seemingly solid value of End of the gold. According to its annual report, the .> company has been able to sell its gold line: an ingot for more than $400 an \lun.se through aggressive "hedging" or advance sales, even -as the market price 'has hovered of,. gold around $350. In the 1980s, the scale of the current gold hoom in Nevada attracted.capital from international financial markets eager to diversify their gold holdings

from South Africa. A Toronto-based Jon Christensen company, with stock held by Canadian, John livermore stands by a hio

Lighthawk patrols from the air." Lighthawk will hook up Lynn, is an updated version of a report mining grass-roots groups working for mining originally prepared to help Nevada law- reform with local volunteer pilots to pro- makers write a state reclamation law in After earning their wings in the battles vide activists and media with an aerial view 1989. It is the kind of technical document over old-growth forests, the volunteer of nearby mines. Lighthawk provides the useful to anyone involved in the issue at pilots of Lighthawk, "the environmental air planes and pilots. Passengers are asked io any level: from miners seeking a quick force," are providing air cover for the min- cover the cost of fuel at around $40 to $50 review of regulations in different states ing refann movement. This fall, says staff an hour tlying time. Contact Bruce Gor- (Arizona is the laxest state for mining, pilot Bruce Gordon, lighthawk pilotsfrom don, Lighthawk, 303F AABC, Aspen, CD with no reclamation requirements except - around the West will be availahle to fly 81611 (303/925-6987); on lands leased from the state) to environ- journalists, activists and politicians over mentalists pushing for tougher standards at mines to rally support for reform of the The vagaries of home (check Montana's existing law or 1872 Mining Law. Gordon recently flew _NewMexico's new law, adopted after this one of Lighthawk's single-engine Cessnas Western mine 89-page report was published). Mining from his base in Aspen, \..-010.,to Reno, reclamation reformers in Congress will also find how Nev., to carry executives of the outdoor states with widely varying private and recreation industry over nearby mines. From state to state in the West, min- public lands and different k.indsof mineral Like the clear-cut forests of the Northwest, ers face different requirements to reclaim deposits have, or have not, regulated min- says Gordon, the huge open-pit mines of land, whether private, state or federal, after ing, and What kind of federal reclamation the West are often out of the sight from the they've extracted ore. The call for a federal standard would work best, given local l ground and thus too often out of mind. standard is at the heart of efforts to reform realities. "You don't realize the magnitude of mod- the 1872 Mining Law. A Review of Public Resource.Associates, 1755 em mines until you see a chunk of moun- Hardrock Mine Reclamation Practices in E. Plumb Lane, Ste. 170, Reno, NY tain gone," he says. "People need to see it Western States, by Ann Kersten and Susan 89502 (702/786-9955). - J.e.

14 - High Country News - October 4, 1993 plows most of irs profits from the Gold- strike into increased production here and at other gold mines in Nevada, Utah and Canada. Last year Barrick's profits climbed to $175 million. The company paid $39 million in income taxes, mainly to the United' States, and Banick investors split a dividend payment of nearly $34 million at 6 1/2 cents a share. But the main attraction for investors is not the company's annual dividend but its stock value, which has risen steadily with announcements of new reserves and added mining capacity at the Goldstrike. The Goldstrike mine is an account- ing feat as well as an engineering mar- vel. Barrick has $100 million invested in rolling stock, with each tire for its 190- ton trucks costing $15,000. McDonough says the trucks burn $150 an hour in diesel fuel on the six-mile haul spiraling '. up from the bottom of the pit. Although the drivers are among the highest paid workers in Nevada, their labor at $15-to- $20 an hour represents just a fraction of the cost of running equipment. Every piece of machinery and every ton of ore at the Goldstrike is tracked by a remote control computer system. "The objective is to keep everything moving," says McDonough. The firm mines as fast as it can because, whether it mines fast or slow, it must pump out Glenn Miller, John livermore and Dennis Parks stand near the Tuscarora pit the same amount of groundwater. The reform: an end to patenting of public mine has 30 wells around the pit, each of mer, and we continue to talk. "I some- mining produces," Miller points-out. "A land while providing security. of tenure which cost roughly $500,000 to dig, and times wonder, how important it is for our reasonable person will say some mining ...for mining companies while they mine; they pump 65,000 gallons of water a society to mine gold," Miller muses on and disturbance is appropriate. In any mod- an equitable return to the public on min- minute to keep the pit from flooding. one occasion. "What are the public val- em society you have to 'accept some level erals mined from public lands; strict Pumping has lowered the aquifer around ues that are gained or lost? On the Carlin of change. You hope your efforts can be - environmental regulation of mining that the pit by almost 1,200 feet. trend one can argue that the gold is used most successfully to make sure it - doesn't discourage exploration; and pro- _' With the rate of pumping at the mine worth more than the other resource val- doesn't have unacceptable impacts for tection for special places through land- double what the company predicted in its ues. Gold overwhelms the value of the future generations." use planning. And they predict that environmental impact statements, everyone rand under any economic scenario. On "Gold is a funny thing," Livermore where they come together is probably , has had to play catch-up, McDonough the other hand, people a hundred years says. "Nobody can predict what will -_.veryclose to the-compromise that a Con- acmowlooges, including Barrick; slate reg-" ~ "from now will pay-more of the unknown 'nappen to gold. But the:e will always be gressional conference committee will ulators, the BLM and environmentalists. costs. a demand. It's emotional, primal: have to consjdcr.. But they worry about , Where the pit is now, Barrick and New- "We are making permanent deci- "Mining is not going, to stop," he mont plan to leave a recreational lake. sions," Miller says. "The land will never adds. "Nevada is so rich. It's the richest horse-trading in Congress. Livermore's nightmare is that the I ask-same of Miller's questions about be the same." state in the country in minerals. These worst features of both bills will be com- this lake-to-be: How long will it take for the But mining can never be sustainable liills are loaded with minerals. It's just bined. Miller says it's too bad some of the aquifer ·to recover and the pit to fill with by any definition, since ore bodies play unbelievable. Look at a map of the min- discussion won't take place in Nevada. water? It will star! filling fast, McDonough out. Miller says this leads him to take a ing districts of Nevada. The whole state "Nobodyis dealing with anybody says, but could take up to 100 years to 'more moderate stance. is one blotch after another." outside of Washington," Miller agrees. come all the way up. Will the pit walls "Jobs and mineral production are real Although they come at mining from "When it gets this narrow, people negoti- slough and oxidize, producing acids? Bar- issues. One has to sign on to mining at least different points of view, Livermore and ating don't want anybody else involved." rick's geologists and engineers don't think a little in a society that uses the things that Miller agree on the basics of mining Miller says he will go back to testify so; they believe fish will live in the lake. if he is invited -toany hearings on mining As we drive back to Elko through a reform. Livermore -plans a trip Wash- thundershower, Livermore and to ington to talk to industry people and staff McDonough talk about what the mining on Capitol Hill. boom has meant. In 10 years the popula- The public process "One-thing about a' discovery," Liv- tion has doubled to more than 20,000. A No public hearings are planned on congressional staffers say" if the pro- ermore reflects.. "you've _got something third of the adults work for mining com- mining reformduring the 103rd Con- visions of the bills are specifically concrete. With public policy it's differ- panies, and the $38,000, average annual gress, which runs through next year. _ addressed. ent. You might get a victory. But it's so income in Elko is the highest in Nevada. The Senate passed a mining reform For copies of the bills, contact amorphous. I've always felt what is Barrick has put about $1 million a bill, S. 775, earlier this year. The Candice Brown, Subcommittee on important is a good mining law. The year into Elko, McDonough' says, build- House Natural Resources Committee Energy and Mineral Resources, trouble 'is both sides feel they have to ing 375 homes, 150 apartments and buy- is expected to mark up Rep. Rahall's House of Representatives, Washing- gain something. So you have to battle ing 108 mobile homes that have mostly bill, H.R. 322, sometime in October. If ton, D.C.Z0515 (202/225-8331). your way toward the center." been sold or rented to employees. that bill passes a full House vote, a For information about the posi- Miller points out that "the mining McDonough says Barrick helped pay to congressional conference committee tions that environmental groups and industry never wanted to talk when they expand the-town's water and se'Yer sys- will try 'to negotiate a compromise. industry are taking on mining reform, were in the driver's seat. But this year tems, schools and a community college. Members of the conference com- contact the following groups: it's the environmental community that's It pays for continuing education for mittee will be selected by Sen. J. Ben- Mineral Policy Center, 1325 not terribly interested in talking to the employees and gives a. $3,000 a year nett Johnston, D-La., chairman of the Massachusetts Ave. NW,. Room 550, mining industry.- Politically, we're on a scholarship to each college-bound child Senate Energy and Natural Resources Washington, D.C. 20005 (2021737- -roll, Now the longer industry waits, the _ of an employee - more if they will Committee, and by Rep. George 1872). Stewart Udall is chairman and harder it will be for them." study chemical engineering or minerals. Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the Philip Hocker is president of the cen- In an ideal world, miners and envi- , What will happen to Elko when the House Natural Resources Committee. ter, which has been at the forefront of ron mentalists and agencies wo.uld work boom goes bust? The conference committee-could meet a coalition of environmental groups harmoniously under a good law, Miller McDonough says Elko has "15-to- well into next year before issuing a advocating reform and backing the says .. In the real world, Miller says, 20 years to figure out what to do next. "conference report" to be voted on in Rahall bill. "mining will take eternal vigilance no We're just beginning to talk of post-min- an up-or-down vote with no amend- American Mining Congress, matter how things are going. Without ing. It's still up for grabs. Whether Elko ments by the full House and Senate. 1920 N Street NW, Washington, D.C. constant public involvement, reform will will still be 20,000 people in 20 years- At this point and throughout this 20036 (202/861-2800). This national be worthless." • it's hard to say ... What's the future of process, the best way to express an trade association is an advocate for any place with a smokestack?" " opinion on mining reform is to con- industry and backs the Craig bill. Jon Christensen is Great Basin edi- Relative values tact your representative and senators. tor of High Country News. His stories Comments will be especially useful, -J.e. were paid for by the High Country News Livermore and Miller pore over the'" Research Fund. mining reform bills throughout the sum- .' High Country News - October 4, 1993 - 15 LRT