Sportsmen need to stand up for hard rock mining reform now

Trout Unlimited, Northwest Steelheaders and other conservation groups are making a concerted effort to update the 1872 Mining Law. According to the National Wildlife Federation: Under this law, mining takes precedence over all other public land uses, including fishing. The Secretary of the Interior is required to sell public land to mining companies, often foreign-owned, for as little as $2.50 per acre. Furthermore, mining companies pay no royalties for hard rock minerals — gold, copper and zinc — that belong to all citizens. It is estimated that since the 1872 Mining Law was enacted, the U.S. government has given away more than $245 billion through royalty-free mining and patenting. Over 40% of western headwaters are contaminated by mining pollution and 500,000 abandoned mines despoil the landscape. You don’t have to look far to see how this nightmare affects us in Oregon. From the Register-Guard : On the South Umpqua River, a foreign, multinational copper ...