Southern OR Businesses Ask Merkley to Back Mining Reform
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February 10, 2010
ASHLAND, Ore. - Some southern Oregon businesses have joined a few national companies to issue a challenge to Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR). A total of 28 business owners have signed a letter, asking him to support an update of the 1872 General Mining Law. Created when the West was first being settled, it allows companies to file mining claims on public land for a few dollars an acre.
A Senate bill to modernize the law (S 796) would make mining companies pay royalties, and fees to clean up abandoned mine sites, but no action has been taken on it since July 2009. Pete Wallstrom, who owns Momentum River Expeditions in Ashland, says his customers see old mines and debris on their rafting trips – and he thinks it's time the law is revised to encourage cleaner industries.
"It should reflect the current time and the mixed use and, from a long-term business perspective, what's the most important for the community? I think we'd actually find that tourism is more sustainable than mining, which is a short-term gain."
Senator Ron Wyden is a cosponsor of the bill. In an area with more than 1,200 active mining claims, Wallstrom says those who signed the letter to Merkley believe the local economy has a lot more going for it than just the minerals beneath its surface, including outdoor recreation.
"A lot of businesses, especially in Southern Oregon, rely on a beautiful, natural environment. It's an industry that's completely renewable and it's one that's growing. These aren't just environmentalists that want this stuff - it's businesspeople in the community that also want this change to happen."
The National Mining Association has said its members might be willing to pay royalties of between 2 and 5 percent, the amounts recommended in the bill, although it has also warned that enacting them in this economy would cost jobs. Proponents of mining reform say the country loses $100 million a year by not charging royalties on minerals extracted from public land.