Let’s reform the 1872 Mining Law — finally

Lew Carpenter January 19, 2008

Like many Westerners, I grew up with the luxury of unlimited adventure outdoors. I could wander around, fishing rod in hand, looking for the next hidden pond near my family’s cabin in northern Colorado. That was before I began working in the San Juan Mountains of southwest Colorado as a mountain guide for a kids’ camp. I’ll never forget the first time I ran across a copper-colored creek in the Animas River watershed. I stopped and stared because it was strangely beautiful at first. I failed to grasp that the water had turned that brilliant color because acid waste was draining into it from a mine abandoned at the turn of the century. Certainly, no trout could survive in those waters, and I could only guess how far down the mountain the stream carried its poison.

But I’ve never been opposed to mining, and I understand how the gold rush of the late 1800s helped define the state I was born in. Mining for metals brought people, towns and railroads, leading President Ulysses Grant to declare Colorado a state in 1876.

But while Colorado is undeniably still tied to mining, times have changed, and the General Mining Law of 1872 that gives mining priority over all other land uses is way past due for revision. Fully recognizing that this outdated law is to blame for much of the damage to our public lands, many of America’s sportsmen have set their sights on reforming the 1872 law.

The issue is no less critical for hunters than it is for anglers. More than 80 percent of the most critical habitat for elk, for example, is found on lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Pronghorn, sage grouse, mule deer, salmon, steelhead and countless other fish and wildlife species are similarly dependent on public lands. Our public lands in the West also contain more than 50 percent of the nation’s blue-ribbon trout streams and are strongholds for imperiled trout and salmon.

Though congressional reform never seems to go the distance, last November marked a milestone: The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007 passed the House of Representatives 244-166, and was a huge victory for hunters and anglers. The bill was strongly supported by a coalition called Sportsmen United for Sensible Mining, made up of organizations and individual grassroots partners and spearheaded by the National Wildlife Federation, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and Trout Unlimited.

Now, it’s the Senate’s turn, and as the issue gains momentum, sportsmen in the West want to make sure the bill retains four principles that will make all the difference in the world to fish and other wildlife:

• Allow reclamation incentives and common-sense liability relief to those “good Samaritans” who buy or own land damaged by mining. Companies and nonprofit organizations that didn’t create the problems created by abandoned mines or their waste need to be encouraged to return the land to other uses while being protected against unreasonable liabilities.

• Prohibit the patenting or sale of public lands under this law. Since 1872, public lands have been practically given away to mining companies for as little as $2.50 to $5 per acre. Our wildlife needs public land to survive, and reform should prohibit the sale of that land.

• Create a royalty from any minerals taken from public lands to fund fish and wildlife conservation programs and reclamation of mined land. Sportsmen for over a century have been paying to play on public land; it’s time mining companies paid their share.

• Strengthen protections for fish, wildlife and water resources from the impacts of mining. This can be done by entrusting federal land managers with the authority to ensure reclamation of mining sites and to approve or deny mining permits based on environmental impacts.

Will these changes help fish and wildlife habitat in the years to come? Absolutely. That’s why so many people who love the outdoors and wildlife want this ancient mining law finally brought into the 21st century.

Lew Carpenter is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service of High Country News (hcn.org). He lives in Boulder, Colo., where he is outreach coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation.

Sustaining hunting and fishing tradition

By Lisa Huynh Daily Press Writer

MONTROSE — Part of making a living in Mel Jensen's youth meant going out and shooting meat in the fall to have for the winter. The memory he recalled most children wouldn't recognize today.

Jensen's a great-grandfather now, a retiree and hunting education instructor. He learned to hunt at 13 and learned to fish at an even younger age.

"The kids growing up they have different forms of entertainment, they watch television," said Jensen, a Montrose Rod and Gun Club member. "Now they didn't have television when I was a kid. Maybe I got to see a movie Saturday afternoon if I had a nickel to do it."

Jensen and other lifelong sportsmen remember childhoods spent out in nature, learning out of necessity and accessibility to read the land and its animals. Many lived near wild spaces and grew up learning from family how to pursue, capture and shoot prey.

Increasing urbanization and fewer traditional family structures are some factors possibly contributing to a decline in the number children introduced to hunting and fishing.

A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report released in 2007 found nationwide about 10 percent fewer 6 to 19 year-olds living at home had ever fished in 2005 compared to those who had ever fished in 1990. The percent of 13- to 19-year olds who had ever hunted fell from 16 percent in 1990 to 11 percent in 2005. Declines appeared to be both in fewer participants and fewer staying engaged throughout their lifetimes.

What is viewed as promising news, however, is the rise of participation in other wildlife activities. Thirty-eight percent of Americans either hunt, fish or observe wildlife.

"It seems that people are still getting outside and recreating and enjoying the outdoors, they're just doing it with different activities," said Barb Perkins, USFWS spokesperson. "It's just maybe a sign of our times that things are changing a little bit."

A tradition

The amount of dedication hunters and anglers devote to their sports is in many respects the ultimate in wildlife interaction. Beside the fact that these two types of activities sustain the state's conservation efforts through the sale of hunting and fishing licenses (see "The Hunter-Angler Dollar"), these sportsmen spend much of their time outside observing animal behavior.

Come hunting season, families like the Vergaminis set up camp well before the start of the season. They wake before the sun, spend all day on foot and return to camp at sundown. Sometimes excitement impedes sleep. The family's interest is just as much about intrigue as it is about gain — behavioral insight is key in catching game.

"If you're out there, you see how (the animals) live, you see their lifestyle, you see the moms and the babies and how they react," said lifelong hunter Christine Gibson, whose parents met while hunting. "You see (the animals') circle of life. It's really amazing that that goes on and you don't ever know about it and you don't see it."

The decline in youth introductions to hunting and fishing surprises few; Gibson's father Dave Vergamini, a hunter safety educator and Montrose Rod and Gun Club member, said the drop in youth participation is part of the norm. Still, his family is sad knowing fewer kids are getting outdoors.

"If you don't get to the outdoors, you just don't appreciate it,"said Kathy Vergamini. "Everyone's 'going green' but it seems to be a fad. If you don't live it, you don't really understand what all goes along with it."

Beyond the tangible or measurable values of hunting and fishing is something perhaps words can't express. The activities often bond generations of families like the Vergaminis.

"I don't think we chose (the lifestyle). It's just always been there and we've just always done it," said Kathy. "I grew up that way. I got lucky enough to marry someone that enjoys it and passed it onto to our kids."

When asked the value of activities to him, Dave Vergamini said simply, "I don't know, you just have to be out there to experience it." While Dave recognizes the differences between today's and yesterday's youth, he suspects it's not so much the number of participants that has changed but the society around the culture. Montrose used to be filled with banners reading, "Welcome Hunters." Not so much anymore.

Said Dave, "It used to be the big talk of the town, 'are you going hunting?, when are you going?'"

Exceptions to the decline

Many local sportsmen believe Colorado, with its relative abundance of public lands and rural communities, is not experiencing the decline in participation happening in other states. More than one-third of Colorado's land area is owned by the public and is available for public use, according to the Bureau of Land Management. The USFWS survey showed hunting retention rate in urban areas declined between 1995 to 2005, from 43 to 35 percent, in comparison to a decline in rural areas from 59 to 53 percent.

Data on hunting and fishing license sales in Colorado suggest participation isn't what it used to be, but also shows fluctuations from year to year with no sharp changes. In 1985, the DOW reported 1,031,061 individual hunting and fishing license buyers; that number decreased to 961,043 by 2006. Part of the reason the number of license buyers is sustained is the sale of over-the-counter bull elk tags, which is a huge draw because hunters know they can come to Colorado and hunt elk, said Division of Wildlife Public Information Specialist for the Southwest Region Joe Lewandowski.

Participants in local fly fishing and casting clinics have also increased significantly in the last two years, said Gunnison Gorge Anglers President Marshall Pendergrass. However — as the USFWS national survey also found — most participants are middle-aged and retired, he said. Based on the survey, at least a third of both first time anglers and hunters were over 20 years old.

"People are busy and they're finding it's an easy way to get away and spend some time," said Pendergrass. "It's not as expensive as skiing and things like that. (Fishing) is not limited to just a certain time of year and most people enjoy the mountains; they enjoy the rivers, hiking and wildlife."

In an effort to foster more youth participation in hunting and fishing, federal, state and local non-profit groups are reaching kids through programs such as DOW's Youth Hunt, GGA's flyfishing clinics and workshops and Trout Unlimited's Trout in the Classroom.

Contact Lisa Huynh via email at lisah@montrosepress.com

DENTRY: Wildlife, politics do mix

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/22/dentry-wildlife-politics-do-mix/  Ed Dentry: Sportsmen to gather on public land - the Colorado Capitol!

State to Consider Water Measures

Conservationists say water bills are vital to rivers and streams http://www.durangoherald.com/asp-bin/article_generation.asp?article_type=out&article_path=/outdoors/out071228_2.htm

This Durango Herald legislative preview features Drew Peternell, director of National TU's Colorado Water Project

Are Zebra Mussels Invading State?

 http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/15080321/detail.html Mussels Found At Lake Pueblo State Park                                                                                                                     Scott Lucero, 7NEWS Assignment Editor

No big deal, right? Guess where the Pueblo hatchery gets its water?

Bill Aimed At Keeping Off-Road Vehicles On Track

"It completely ruined my hunting trip, and that just happens all the time," said Petersen, who works on off-road issues for the conservation group Trout Unlimited. http://cbs4denver.com/local/snowmobiles.atvs.hunters.2.631336.html

DENVER (AP) ― Hunters and the state's leading off-road vehicle group are teaming up to support a crackdown on people who ride snowmobiles and ATVs where they shouldn't.A bill in the Legislature would penalize people who ride all-terrain vehicles and snowmobiles in prohibited areas on public land.

"We know a very small portion of the recreating and hunting population causes problems, and we're going to get them reined in," said Dennis Larratt, chairman of the Colorado Off Highway Vehicle Coalition.

Dave Petersen, a bow hunter who lives near Durango, said he saw plenty of elk on a scouting trip in August. When he returned with his bow a few days later, Petersen didn't find any elk but he saw tracks from the ATV he figures scared them away.

"It completely ruined my hunting trip, and that just happens all the time," said Petersen, who works on off-road issues for the conservation group Trout Unlimited.

A bill by Rep. Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, and Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, would set a $100 fine for people who ride ATVs or snowmobiles on prohibited areas of state and federal lands. Fines would double in a wilderness area, and violators' hunting and fishing licenses could be docked 10 to 15 points and eventually revoked.

House Bill 1069 would allow any law-enforcement officer, including state wildlife officers, to enforce the law on federal lands. Federal agencies don't have enough rangers to police their lands, Petersen said.

The U.S. Forest Service will be happy for the help, said Janelle Smith, spokeswoman for the agency's regional office in Denver.

National forests are changing their rules on motorized vehicles and will designate areas where ATVs are allowed, Smith said. "You need to be on a designated trail, route or area," she said.

The Bureau of Land Management was consulted on the bill's wording, BLM spokesman James Sample said.

A 1976 federal law governing how public land is managed gives states the authority to impose fines on people who violate regulations Sample said. But each state "may have to authorize it with its own legislation," he said.

Salazars back off on Roan, endorse Ritter provisions

by Phillip Yates, Glenwood Springs Post Independent http://www.postindependent.com/article/20080108/VALLEYNEWS/922694956

Senator Ken Salazar and U.S. Rep. John Salazar support Governor Ritter's proposal to increase the size of the Roan's Areas of Critical Environmental Concern and to lease portions of the Roan in phases rather than all at once. CTU thinks those are good steps - but not opening up the top of the Roan would be much better.

Study determines methane gas drilling affects water levels

This article, by Randy Woock of the Raton Range, looks at a study commissioned by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources in the Raton Basin. http://www.stpns.net/view_article.html?articleId=75944292141077420

Western & Colorado Water Project Staff Notes

January 2008   The Clean Water Restoration Act is legislation that TU would like Congress to pass. Over the last year, Colorado's delegation has been lobbied heavily by the Farm Bureau and developer interests who are staunchly opposed to ensuring that there will be Clean Water Act permitting requirements in the small streams of the West. We've been spending some time trying to figure out whether the bill's opponents are simply against it, period, or whether there might be room for compromise. We have two public speaking engagements on this topic (both point-counterpoints) later this month. 

The Nature Conservancy is pitching a big Colorado River restoration project. So, with TU Conservation Success Index maps in hand, we sat down with TNC staff to see about how we might be able to collaborate on an Upper Colorado River restoration effort that would focus on Colorado River cutts as well as terrestrial and plant species of concern for TNC. 

We spent a day in meetings trying to move the ball forward on Colorado's effort to map, prioritize and quantify flows for environmental needs. Consultants discussed the methodologies available to do both reach specific and stream type quantifications. There was supposed to be an additional meeting with the whole Inter-Basin Compact Committee on this topic, but that meeting was cancelled because of snow, so what isn't clear is what folks think about the process. Meanwhile, we are working with CTU and others on an effort to map the priority reaches where water acquisition will be necessary to protect instream values. 

The fact that the regulation of water development is entirely separate from the regulation of land development is becoming a more and more obvious problem in the West. Interestingly, it isn't mostly the conservation community that's voicing concerns over the lack of coordination in the two. A Colorado legislator will be running a bill this session to increase integration a tiny bit. 

We welcomed John Gerstle to the Boulder office. John has spent the bulk of his career working as a water consultant in the private sector, and recently he has consulted for TU on coal bed methane water quality regulations in Wyoming and two of our successful water rights oppositions in water court. He will continue to work on produced water issues for TU. In addition, he will work with water project staff in Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming on a variety of water matters. We're excited to have him here. 

The water court judge in the Dry Gulch remand has ordered the parties to submit briefs outlining positions on how the case should be decided. 

TU and the other parties to the Colorado water court proceedings to quantify the Black Canyon reserved water right are engaged in mediation. The court has stayed proceedings to allow negotiations to continue. 

At the request of the Evergreen Metro chapter, we have been working to determine how best to respond to the Colorado Water Quality Control Division’s decision to remove Bear Creek from the 303(d) list. An analysis of the fishery data indicates that the stream has substantially recovered. This analysis was substantially similar to the conclusions reached by the Colorado Division of Wildlife. Based on it we chose not to oppose delisting the stream but are nonetheless voicing our continuing belief that the stream is precariously perched and that temperature remains a serious threat to the continued health of the fishery. 

We are conversing with The Nature Conservancy and providing input on their efforts to develop flow regime for the North Fork of the Poudre. This regime is being proposed as part of the shared vision process for the Halligan-Seaman expansion. Because TNC has land on the stretch of river between the two reservoirs, they have taken the lead on developing the flow regime target. We are reviewing their work and providing comments in the hope that we can speak with one voice when their vision of what a flow regime should like is presented. 

We are also working to advance the instream flow recommendations TU brought forward last year with the Division of Wildlife and which will be voted on later this month. In addition, we are working to prepare some new recommendations with the Division of Wildlife and with the Bureau of Land Management. 

We are analyzing existing temperature data to help the Colorado Water Quality Control Division improve their map of summer stream temperatures. This map is used to help predict what species are expected to occur in the various streams of Colorado and thus what water quality standards are applicable. 

We continue to prepare for the upcoming basin-wide temperature hearings. Although state-wide standards were developed last year, they are being applied in a basin by basin process that begins with the Colorado River Basin.

Salazars offer compromise on Roan Plateau drilling

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jan/09/salazars-offer-compromise-on-roan-plateau/

U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar and his brother, U.S. Rep. John Salazar, both Colorado Democrats, said Tuesday they will drop their opposition to natural gas drilling atop the state's majestic Roan Plateau, while they work to minimize environmental impacts.

The Salazars said their new stance is in the spirit of compromise, after they previously sought a one-year moratorium or even an outright ban on drilling on the Western Slope landmark.

Those efforts were killed in the Senate version of the energy bill.

"We may not get everything we want, but this is a pretty good compromise," Rep. Salazar said Tuesday in a news conference at the state Capitol.

The Salazars' approach aligns them with Gov. Bill Ritter, who last month said he would work with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management to minimize the impact of gas drilling atop the plateau.

In recent years, the Roan - which includes 74,000 acres of federally owned land about 180 miles west of Denver - has become a battleground between the energy industry and conservationists.

The plateau contains an estimated 8.9 trillion cubic feet of recoverable gas, according to the Interior Department, enough to heat 4 million homes for 20 years. It also is touted by hunters, outdoors enthusiasts and environmental activists for its wildlife, trout streams and topography.

The BLM last summer issued its first "record of decision," or a plan covering 53,000 acres of the Roan's top and sides, that Ritter reviewed over 120 days, ending in December. In the spring, the federal agency will finalize its second plan to cover the remaining 21,000 acres, categorized as environmentally critical areas.

Ritter has proposed increasing the environmentally critical areas to 36,000 acres, which he said would allow for greater protection of wildlife habitats and still allow narrow corridors of accessibility to drillers.

The Salazars said they would work that proposal into new legislation, with the support of Rep. Mark Udall, D-Eldorado Springs.

Sen. Salazar said he'd propose a phased leasing of the plateau, beginning with the gas-rich zones in the initial years and graduating to marginal zones. He also proposed a minimum lease bonus payment of $28,000 per acre by energy companies.

The Salazars' shift in position was hailed in some industry quarters but greeted with disappointment elsewhere.

"In the end, the winners will be Colorado taxpayers and local governments who will benefit from a huge potential revenue windfall, which our state badly needs," said Greg Schnacke, president and CEO of Americans For American Energy - a Golden-based interest group that has pushed for drilling atop the Roan.

Trout Unlimited, an environmental group that opposes drilling atop the Roan, said sportsmen in Colorado still think natural gas can be attained from beneath the Roan without drilling on public lands on the plateau's top.

"The gas isn't going anywhere, and with some patience, we can wait for technology to move along and allow us to get at the gas without sacrificing habitat and hunting and fishing opportunity," said Corey Fisher, a TU field coordinator on oil and gas issues.

Meanwhile, it's not clear how Ritter's proposal or new legislation by the Salazars and Udall would impact the BLM's first record of decision.

"As with any legislation, we follow any new rule that Congress approves and the president signs," BLM spokeswoman Jamie Gardner said.

chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2976

Change in direction

Sen. Ken Salazar and Rep. John Salazar say they will, along with Rep. Mark Udall, all Colorado Democrats, propose legislation to:

* Allow oil and gas drilling atop the Roan Plateau, as per a federal decision last year, but lease those acres in a phased manner.

* Require a minimum lease bonus payment of $28,000 per acre. The federal government owns about 74,000 acres on the Roan, with the first decision covering more than 53,000 acres. A second decision expected this spring will cover the remaining "environmentally critical" areas.

* Increase the environmentally critical areas from 21,000 acres to more than 36,000 acres, with narrow corridors through those lands being accessible to drillers.

* Increase and restore the state's share of mineral-leasing revenues to 50 percent from 48 percent in the Omnibus Appropriations bill that was approved by Congress and signed into law by President Bush.

* Transfer excess funds from the Anvil Points oil shale trust fund back to the Western Slope communities to invest in land and water protection and on roads affected by oil and gas development.