6 Comments

Reform of the 1872 mining law is way overdue and I am living the consequences now with prospectors drilling holes right next to my property, threatening my water and many other aspects of life. This in an area that has been thoroughly mined and abused over the years. How can we support and promote these efforts by the Biden Administration?

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I follow the grand tours and have been extremely impressed by Sepp Kuss for some time, and proud of him even when he's not the leader. But keep in mind (Dennis) that his "job" within the team is to support the team leader/team goals. Unless the team leader is himself unable to reach his goals for whatever reason (e.g. injury), I would not be surprised if Sepp ultimately loses the lead, but that makes me no less proud of him.

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The Thursday and Friday editions of the Wall Street Journal have been running stories on whether or not the racing team will “allow” Seth Kuss to win. Professional cycling still has ways to go in my mind to regain the spirit of competition racing.

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Great article re updating of the 1872 mining law. Not a bad idea but I would hate to see the “small miner” section completely eliminated. I am slightly biased here since I was once a “small” miner with a claim (never patented) filed in Salinas, California. As with everything with the government the devil is in the details and in this case that means the definition of “small miner.” On the difficult road to patent my small mine (less than 1/2 acre) I ended up in San Fransisco Superior Court where a “friendly” judge informed me the land on which my claim was located had been removed from the public domain per the Weeks Land Law of 1913. My mining claim was ruled void ab initio (void from the beginning). No fine or jail time and the black robed judge just ordered me to vacate my claim immediately – which I did. The judge also added that I should have been born 150 years ago during the California gold rush days.

I am unsure how “small miner” is defined by the government, but I would like some protection for a truly small miner such as I was over 40 years ago. I understand Jonathan’s argument that some speculators file claims of 10 or 20 acres with hopes of selling their patented claim to a large mining company at a handsome profit. However, I would like to see some provision in the revised law to allow a truly small "pie-in-the-sky" miner to file claims and work toward patent.

And good luck in your recovery efforts from the recent flood damage to your property and house in Koukouleika, Greece. I don't understand how you can continue to write your well-researched dispatches, but they are appreciated.

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Well about dam time for someone to at least make the attempt to bring the 1872 (ONE HUNDRED FIFTY ONE YEARS OLD) Mining Law into this century! And par for the course that Republicans AND Democrats are not happy about it. Good old lobbyists on both sides, I'm sure.

This "law" has impinged on every segment of our public lands - and the wildlife and their habitat has suffered from it. Time for someone to get their act together - well, maybe, possibly....

Thank you for this information - havent seen anything about it anywhere else.

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