As the price of gold and other “hard rock” minerals rises, the need to change the 135-year old law that established the claim and patent system on public lands grows.
Key U.S. Senate Committee hears about the need for mining reforms. By Staci Matlock. The New Mexican.
Mining claims rise near Western cities. By Judy Pasternak, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
The New West: Mine Claims Crowd Booming Cities. Mining Industry, Still Regulated by 1872 Law, Is Nation’s Top Polluter. Environmental Working Group.
Here is a map of the thousands of mining claims. Environmental Working Group.
Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University. He has been a Western Watersheds Project Board Member off and on for many years, and also its President. For many years he produced Ralph Maughan's Wolf Report. He was a founder of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition. He and Jackie Johnson Maughan wrote three editions of "Hiking Idaho." He also wrote "Beyond the Tetons" and "Backpacking Wyoming's Teton and Washakie Wilderness." He created and is the administrator of The Wildlife News.
