Red Lodge Clearinghouse

The bill from subcommittee chairman Raúl Grijalva, H.R. 5583, would withdraw three parcels of Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management lands from future mining: the Tusayan Ranger District of the Kaibab National Forest south of the canyon, the Kanab Creek watershed north of the park, and House Rock Valley, between the park and Vermilion Cliffs National Monument.

Grijalva introduced the bill following controversy over the Forest Service's approval of plans by a British mining company to explore for uranium south of the park last year, which critics say was done without adequate environmental review or public comment.

A federal judge in April issued a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the company -- VANE Minerals Group PLC -- after environmental groups sued (Greenwire, April 7).

Rachel Kondor, Grijalva's senior legislative assistant, said the legislation is meant to close the last remaining gaps of land around the park that have not been withdrawn from mining.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (D) sent a letter to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne in March requesting these areas be administratively withdrawn from mining on an expedited basis.

A 15-fold increase in uranium prices in the past eight years has sparked a surge in new uranium development, with thousands of new claims near the canyon and surrounding watersheds.

But withdrawing the lands will only prohibit new mining claims in the three parcels. According to Alvin Burch, group manager for renewable and mineral resources at BLM's Arizona office, there are between 8,000-10,000 existing mining claims in the proposed withdrawal area. The claims are not only for uranium, but also gypsum, thorium and gold.

Burch said those claims will remain valid as long as the required fees and paperwork are maintained and the law would not affect any operations in the areas that have already been approved.

However, if the owners of any of those claims in the withdrawal area want to develop them, the claims must undergo the additional burden of a validity examination, where land officials go out to the claim and determine whether it is an economically viable and valid existing right. If a claim is determined invalid, it could be permanently withdrawn.

While it is not unusual to withdraw large acreages of land for different purposes like an Indian reservation or a gunnery range, Burch said he was unsure whether there has ever been large-scale withdraw for the explicit purpose of prohibiting mining.

The committee will also consider:

H.R. 3809, to amend the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Act of 1988 to make the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor Incorporated the local coordinating entity for the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor. It also authorizes appropriations to implement the management action plan created by the commission through fiscal 2012.

H.R. 4199, to add sites to the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park in Ohio.

H.R. 573, to amend the language that established the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore to clarify the authority of the Interior secretary to accept donations of lands that are contiguous to the lakeshore, and for other purposes.

H.R. 4828, to amend the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site Act of 1991 to expand the boundaries of the historic site, and for other purposes.

H.R. 3702, to direct the Agriculture Department to convey certain land in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Mont., to Jefferson County, Mont., for use as a cemetery.

Schedule: The hearing is Thursday, June 5, at 2 p.m. in 1324 Longworth.

Witnesses: TBA.

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