Summary
The effects on the General Mining Law of 1872 on Montana's environment have been devastating. Modern mining operations are continuing to degrade ecosystems under the auspices of this law which is outdated and should be amended.
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Extract
Mine, all mine; the great mineral grab.
Once upon a time, miners fondly called Butte, Montana, "the richest hill on Earth." That was a century ago. Today, Butte residents can stroll over to the Berkeley Pit and look out on a hole a mile wide, a mile-and-a-half long, and a half-mile deep. It's filled with turquoise-tinted water more acidic than vinegar.
The legacy of hard-rock mining in Montana is not something schoolchildren have to learn from textbooks. Abandoned tunnels, pits, waste heaps, and highwalls speckle the Treasure State from one end to the other. At the heart of the mining legacy is the frontier-era statute that made it all possible: the General Mining Law of 1872. Born of the fever to settle the American West, the Mining Law was Congress's way of creating immense subsidies and privileges for miners to encourag...See the full content of this document
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