Mountain-Top Removal Threatens 4,700 Acres of State Land
by John Jolley
Imagine the entire face of
a mountain being removed for a distance of twelve miles. That’s precisely
what Casper lawyer Hugh Duncan has proposed in 17 lease applications to
the State Land Board to "prospect and develop" for "mining and crushing
ore for aggregate" on more than 4,700 acres of state land in the mountains
south of Glenrock.
The area is comprised of
superb elk, deer and other wildlife habitat and is popular with recreationists.
Mining could deface the mountain anywhere or everywhere — from Boxelder
Road west to the face of the mountain above Deer Creek road, a distance
of seven miles, around the mountain south for three miles and then west
another two miles.
Citizens’ right to know
One of citizens’ biggest complaints
about government decisions is that actions are taken before the public
is even aware that substantial changes are being proposed on state and
federal lands, such as sales, exchanges and large mining ventures. These
changes or loss of public lands may be so significant that they cannot
be reversed once the decision is made, even though they may have a significant
impact on the public’s interest. For instance, once a legal private property
interest is created through a state-land mineral lease (in this case 17
of them), that interest often cannot be taken away without the expenditure
of a large amount of taxpayer dollars.
At present, the State Land
Board does not mandate public notification before mineral lease applications
are approved and before a private party obtains a property-right interest
in state lands.
What about public comments?
After the right to know, a second
major complaint about government actions is that citizens are not given
the right to comment or, if they are, their comments are not allowed until
it is too late to have any effect on the decisonmaking process.
In the case of the Duncan
lease applications, there are not sufficient protections in the permitting
or mining process to properly safeguard the public’s interests. For example,
if Duncan or the parties he represents elect to mine 4,700 acres in 10-acre
increments, they may be exempt from many of the regulations that govern
larger mines: the applicant may not have to give public notice, there are
no regulations on blasting, there may be no real reclamation requirements
and there are no overburden requirements.
The State Land Board has
begun to realize the importance of allowing public input when it begins
to consider a substantial change in the use or loss of state lands. For
example, the board now allows full public participation by all interested
parties in Jackson before taking any action to sell, exchange or change
the use of state lands in that area. In addition, the board recently decided
to allow Sweetwater and Sublette County residents to provide input before
it gives even preliminary approval to sell state lands in that area. This
is a step in the right direction. Now the board should move to allow public
comments concerning potentially huge mining ventures on state lands.
Archaic customs penalize schools
After allowing public notification
and comment before a property right is given, the state then has a duty
to be assured of receiving maximum value for the mineral value taken from
state lands.
Currently, Wyoming allows
archaic leasing and royalty customs (perpetuated by private business interests)
to govern the amount of benefit the state will receive on behalf of our
public schools. In this instance, it is ludicrous that the application
indicates board approval of a mere $2 per acre rental fee for the lease.
It is just as absurd that the state may only receive about fifty cents
per ton in royalties after the ore is mined. According to one source, before
the mined ore is transported from the pit, it will have a value of more
than $7 per ton. Yet, if the Duncan lease applications are approved, the
state may receive no more than 1/16th to 1/20th of the value of the ore.
It should be perplexing to
the people of this state who help pay to support our public schools to
learn that the state has rejected 17 other applications from a party who
offered to pay higher rentals and royalties than those stated in Duncan’s
applications. Since the board is aware that at least one other party is
interested in these leases and has offered to pay more money, it has an
obligation to table or continue to set aside Duncan’s applications until
procedures are changed to allow the state to receive maximum revenues for
the benefit of Wyoming’s public schools and to help relieve the burden
on taxpayers.
A $500 million buy-out?
If these mineral leases are
approved, Duncan, his successors, assignees or clients will have a "private
property interest" which might only be relinquished by a cash payment not
to mine. Duncan — or whoever he represents — will be able to claim that
it is a "taking" of his/her property right if it becomes apparent that
it is against the public interest to mine these lands and the state attempts
to stop it.
The potential value of the
ore from the entire 4,700 acres could easily be far in excess of $500 million.
Therefore, the private party could demand that, for the "taking of his
private property right," the state pays him or her $500 million not to
mine. In addition, there is a growing trend for entrepreneurs to purchase
inholdings and then sell their development rights, for exorbitant prices,
not to develop in national forests.
If there is even the remote
possibility that mining on any of these 4,700 acres is not in the state’s
best interest, the time to stop it is before the Duncan lease applications
are approved and before the applicant obtains a "private property interest."
Later, the state may pay dearly for approving these applications and receiving
less than $6,000 in filing and lease payments. Now is the time to explore
other alternatives, such as issuing only one or two 40-acre mineral leases.
(Attorney and conservation
activist John Jolley is Consulting Editor of Grassroots Advocate,
P. O. Box 2968, Mills,
WY 82644.)
Please contact the following
members of the State Land Board, who will make the ultimate decision on
the Duncan leases, and express your views.
Governor Jim Geringer
State Capitol Building
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Tel: (307) 777-7434
Tel: (307) 777- 7398
Fax: (307) 632- 3909
e-mail: governor@missc.state.wy.us
Secretary of State Joe Meyer
State Capitol Building
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Tel: (307) 777-5333
Tel: (307) 745-7383
Fax: (307) 777- 6217
e-mail: secofstate@missc.state.wy.
us
State Auditor Max Maxfield
State Capitol Building
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Tel: (307) 777-7831
Tel: (307) 778-4022
Fax: (307) 777- 6983
e-mail: mmaxfi@missc.state.wy.us
State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis
State Capitol Building
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Tel: (307) 777-7408
Tel: (307) 632-1363
Fax: (307) 777-5411
e-mail:
clummi@missc.state.wy.us
Superintendent of Public
Instruction
Judy Catchpole
Hathaway Building, 2nd Floor
Cheyenne, WY 82002
Tel: (307) 777-7675
Tel: (307) 634-8278
Fax: (307) 777-6234
e-mail: jcatch@educ.state.wy.us |
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