All Articles
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.
Melman on Gold & Silver
Much of the past 12 months, both in America and around the world, has been devoted to discussions of Keynesianism versus the Austrian School of economics; of the value versus risks of “Quantitative Easing,” of free markets versus government-dominated markets; and of the right of government to accede to unlimited demands on her resources, no matter the cost.
Picks & Pans: Treasure Hawk Mine—Cutthroat Mining Corporation
The Treasure Hawk mine was operated by "Crazy Eddie" Bounsall from 1972 until 1988. He died in 1994, and I purchased the Treasure Hawk claims from his wife Betty in 1996.
Prospecting for Copper
This article deals with copper exploration, but it is relevant to exploration for other minerals. I will use the geology of the Copper Creek area in Pinal County, Arizona, as an example.
The Amazing Mineral Tourmaline
It is a gemstone, and yet it is also closely associated with many types of metal ores. It's valuable itself but often points toward other valuable minerals—that is certainly something prospectors want to know more about!
Keep Watch for The Unexpected
As I have always done, I stashed those heavy black rocks in my pack and put them in the garden at home. They never were given a second thought until a half decade later…
Pros and Cons of Big Detector Coils
Years later I returned with a new detector with a smaller coil and detector technology more sensitive to smaller nuggets. I found my first nugget within five minutes. I had a second five minutes after that.
The Bawl Mill
• Why rent when you can own?
• County taxed by tax error
• Military policy wins out over common sense
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The Bawl Mill
• Our Readers Say
• The Montana Tunnels Discovery
• Spreading the Fever
• Forest Service Final Rule—When is a Notice or Plan Required?
• Looking Back
• New Regulations for Major Precious Metal Dealers
• The Paradox Basin—Part I
• The Safety in Tax Deductions for Safety
• Understanding and Evaluating Desert Mineralization for Nuggetshooters
• A Search for Tantalum
• Copper is King in Arizona
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Melman on Gold & Silver
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