
In 2008, the U. S. House did pass a mining law reform bill. Fortunately, the bill did not make it through the Senate, for the idea of the legislators was to take a small royalty on the mineral profits. This practice would make it easier for the Forest Service employees to approve mining in our National Forests. I am going to show why National Forests should be and always have been protected from mining by laws, even though those laws are not being followed.
Therefore, National Forests (reserves) does not need to be included in mining law reform because no mining should occur there at all according to present law.
The Forest Reserve Act of 1891 had two purposes 1) to protect natural places from erosion and flooding and collect water for cities, and 2) to set aside areas where logging and roads would not occur. This established the first forest reserves to preserve the nation’s timber supply from excessive exploitation.
In the next couple of weeks, I will be giving ten documented reasons to show why the regulations of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) public lands and National Forests should be treated separately.