Access Fund and Outdoor Alliance 1872 Mining Reform Update
The Access Fund continues to lead the Outdoor Alliance's www.outdooralliance.net campaign to reform the antiquated 1872 Mining Law. The Outdoor Alliance believes that mining on public land must be balanced with all other public land uses, including clean water and outdoor recreation.
As part of the Access Fund's advocacy we have retained the services of ice climbing pioneer Joe Josephson. Josephson is helping us inform the outdoor industry about this important land stewardship campaign. We're also working with a broad coalition to lobby the US Senate, which is next in line to review legislative proposals that address the mining laws and policies that have been degrading our public lands for 130 years. In November of 2007, the US House of Representatives passed HR 2262, the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007, http://resourcescommittee.house.gov/index.php?option=com... but the bill faces a stiff challenge in the Senate, which will hold a hearing on January 24, 2008 See http://energy.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Hearings....
The Access Fund and Outdoor Alliance will continue to leverage our voice by strategizing with a broad spectrum of environmental and sportsmen groups to urge the US Senate to pass a version of HR 2262. This advocacy includes outreach to the outdoor industry, production of a film highlighting the impacts of mining on human-powered recreation, and regular lobbying visits to Washington, DC Congressional offices.
For more background information and recent press on this issue, see www.pewminingreform.org/briefing-2007-08-16.html and http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/specials/mining/26875....
Email jason@accessfund.org for more information and updates on our work to clean up hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines and to protect the special places where we climb.