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Legislative and Regulatory Update
July 2005 by Scott Harn
• Pombo to introduce ESA reform bill
House Resources Committee chairman Richard Pombo will publish a draft bill that will address many of the problems inherent with the Endangered Species Act.
An aide to Pombo disclosed that the bill will move critical habitat designations to later in the process, require peer reviewed science, provide incentives to landowners to protect species and provide states with a greater role.
Even some environmentalists are agreeing that the current process is flawed.
John Kostyack of the National Wildlife Federation stated, “Congress should push back the deadlines to three years after listing, thereby giving the wildlife agencies the time they need to get the science right.”
Pombo’s target date for the draft bill is August.
The Fish and Wildlife Service currently is under orders from 42 lawsuits to designate habitat for 87 species. Another 35 lawsuits involving 57 species are pending.
• Utah addresses roadless areas
Utah Governor Jon Huntsman will not petition the federal government for protection of roadless areas in his state said a spokesman for the governor’s office.
Under the recently announced changes to the Clinton-era Roadless Rule, individual governors can petition the federal government to manage roadless areas in their respective states.
Lynn Stevens, Utah’s state public lands policy coordinator, said the state will allow the US Forest Service to complete forest management plans already in progress in four of the state’s six national forests.
Utah environmentalist Kevin Mueller believes this amounts to bad news for the state. “It sounds to us like they’re going to come up with something that amounts to minimal protection. The fewer areas that are petitioned and included for protection, the quicker and easier the process will be. The less roadless areas, the less hassle,” said Mueller.
• Appeal by active duty soldier
In a recent Interior Board of Lands Appeals decision, Judge H. Barry Holt ruled that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) should consider the request of an active duty soldier for an exemption from paying annual mining claim assessment fees.
The Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act (SSCRA) provides for a six-month exemption from the fee if all parties to the claim are on active duty.
Proof Mining Districts Work!
If you need more proof that having an organized Mining District can help you, look no further than the recently proposed Methow Headwaters Withdrawal in north-central Washington State.
Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
PLP Update
“In light of the results of the midterm elections our focus will be with the US Senators and their staffers that we have already been working with.”
Melman on Gold & Silver
Well, the Iraqi War is over, at least the active, battlefield portion of it. “All” that remains is to create a democratic nation in a region where political freedom is a virtually unknown concept. With the conflict over, many observers now eagerly await the post-war boom that has accompanied some previous major wars, particularly World War II.
The Bawl Mill
Ask the Experts
Q: Graphite spray to prevent sticking when using cast iron molds
Melman on Gold & Silver
Deadlines are something we must live with at ICMJ as with any other publication, and as this columnist’s deadline approached early Tuesday morning of September 11, I turned on the financial channel to get some last pre-market commentary before completing this month’s column. What I saw was virtually beyond belief. A jetliner had just crashed into one of the two towers of the World Trade Center...
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