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Legislative and Regulatory Update
July 2009 by Scott Harn
• Roadless Rule back in play
The Obama Administration has issued an order calling for a one-year moratorium on most road building, logging and other development in National Forests that were part of the Clinton-era Roadless Rule in 2001.
Approximately 58 million acres are affected by the directive issued by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on May 28, which gives him sole authority over all proposed construction projects and management decisions in designated roadless areas in every state except Idaho. Idaho has implemented its own plan to manage these areas.
The original Roadless Rule was contested and resulted in two opposite decisions from two separate federal courts; one struck down the rule while the other upheld it. Both decisions have been appealed.
• Action needed on SB 670
It may not be too late to fire off a letter to Governor Schwarzenegger of California, regarding SB 670.
The bill would stop all suction dredging in California until a new Environment Impact Report is completed. See page 5 in this issue for more information.
• Abbey recommended to head BLM
Bob Abbey, formerly the top Interior Department official in Nevada, has been nominated to be the director of the Bureau of Land Management by President Obama.
Abbey retired in 2005 as BLM’s Nevada director after over 30 years of government service.
• Capped and jobless
Organizations are crunching numbers to determine the number of American jobs that will be lost if the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill passes in Congress.
The Heritage Foundation estimates that 987,440 jobs would be lost during the first eight years of cap-and-trade regulations, rising to 2.5 million jobs lost in America over the first 25 years due to the added costs associated with cap-and-trade compliance.
• S 787
The Clean Water Restoration Act is a bill that would take jurisdiction over waterways away from individual states and give that authority to the federal government. It would also remove the requirement that a waterway be navigable to be subject to government regulation. All bodies of water—including groundwater, ditches, pipes, streets, gutters and desert washes—would be regulated under the Clean Water Act.
The Senate Environment and Public Works committee was due to vote on the bill on June 18.
• SB 796 & HR 699
The Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act, and its companion bill in the House, HR 699, remains in committee while Congress addresses cap-and-trade, health care, and other issues.
Both bills would place additional burdens on mining in the United States with additional regulations, financial guarantees and royalties.
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There are so many environmental restrictions and regulations being proposed in Congress that it’s difficult to keep track of them.
It is going to be a tough road over the next several years. Democrats are in control of Congress and the White House, and environmental groups are taking full advantage of the opportunity to push through legislation that severely restricts public and private land use in America. 
Trump Proposes $1.5 Billion to Fund US Uranium Production
US uranium mines produced less than 174,000 pounds in 2019, according to the February Energy Information Administration report. That’s down from 4.9 million pounds in 2014.
Melman on Gold & Silver
News during the past month seemed to focus directly on economic and political events close to home in the good old USA. As talk of recession—or worse—mounted, and as one stock market segment after another weakened sharply, the economic and political leaders of the nation sprang into decisive action.
Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: Coyote Poop Gold
Australians have told me that emus, being very curious, will pick up and swallow anything shiny or unusual. They say aborigines will kick and pick apart any emu poop they see to check them out for nuggets.
Miners Attend Meeting in Myrtle Point, Oregon
It was "standing room only" as a crowd of approximately 50 interested miners attended a meeting hosted by the Powers Ranger District and Forest Service personnel from the Siskiyou National Forest.
Gold Rush in the Congo
It all started with a phone call from my friend and prospecting partner Pat Keene. He told me that he knew of an investor who was just starting out in the gold industry and was looking for a gold consultant to go to Africa to prospect and analyze a 400 sq. mile concession in the middle of the Congo rainforest. I waited for the “just kidding” line...
Searching for Placer Diamonds
In order to search for placer diamonds, the prospector needs to first become familiar with the commodity that he/she is looking for. Diamonds are extraordinary minerals with extreme hardness that have inherited beauty sought for personal adornment and...
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The Bawl Mill
• The Suction Gold Dredging Fight Continues in California
• Gold in the South Pass Greenstone Belt, Wyoming
• Chinese Buy Out Australian Miners
• Using a Winch to Work Smarter, Not Harder
• The Forgotten Specimen—Part II
• Germany Developing Gold Vending Machine
• How to Complete Assessment Work and Claim Maintenance
• More Tennessee Gold
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
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