Mining Claims Have Already Been Filed For Two Monuments Drastically Reduced By Trump Administration

Remember when "advocacy" groups told you that it would open up public land to off-roading? They lied.

Photo by: Jonathon Klein

By: Jonathon Klein

Aug 18, at 8:42am ET

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Recall just a few short weeks ago when the Trump Administration, at the behest of Utah's Republican delegation in the House, Senate, and in Salt Lake City, shrank the size of both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments by over 90% of their total acreage. And recall the supposed "off-road advocacy" groups saying how great this would be for off-roaders, hunters, and outdoor recreation. That this action "actually opened up" much of what was closed off from the public.

How, in the President's own words, "You can't even walk on it."

Please also recall how I called BS on everything above. That this action wasn't meant for you or me or any person who wanted to recreate in these places, but rather for mining, mineral extraction, oil and gas, and housing development for the uber rich. Just like every other public lands policy this administration has enacted since the start of its second term. Well, call me Nostradamus, as the first of those things just became reality. Since shrinking the two monuments, nine mining claims have already been filed with the administration and the state. And it seems the thing they're looking for is uranium.

Tell me how this is good for off-roaders again, SEMA, the Off-Road Business Association (ORBA), and BlueRibbon Coalition (BRC)?

I call those three out specifically, as all three "advocacy" groups released press statements—SEMA, ORBA, and BRC—on the day that Trump, with Governor Mike Cox, Utah Senators John Curtis and Mike Lee, and a host of lesser Representatives, sat in the Oval Office and watched the President remove the protections on some 3 million acres of public land, calling the day auspicious and a win for off-roaders and recreation everywhere.

BlueRibbon Coalition's Ben Burr, who used to work for Senator Mike Lee and is married to his niece, stated at the time, "Right-sizing these monuments to what the statute actually allows isn't an attack on public lands; it's how we keep them open for all Americans to enjoy." That, however, isn't reality. These mining claims and their appearance not 24 hours after the removal of those protections is, and I'm really tired of people listening to these groups as the administration proves time and time again that their interests are only those that benefit foreign mining billionaires and extractive industries.

All three said that the removal of the protections would allow regular Americans to access previously walled-off areas of these monuments, despite all absolutely understanding that hunting, fishing, off-roading, hiking, climbing, camping, and more were all permitted in the vast majority of both places. In other words, they sold you the idea that recreation wasn't allowed, despite knowing it absolutely was. I was just in Grand Staircase-Escalante over spring break, and guess what I was doing? Off-roading.

What wasn't allowed, however, were those extractive industries to loot our national treasures. Protections that no longer apply, with nine separate mining claims already being staked out.

According to our friends at the Center for Western Priorities, "At least nine mining claims have been filed on land formerly included in the two monuments since Trump cut each by around 90 percent in July. Seven claims were filed by Kimmerle Mining on land removed from Bears Ears, and two were filed by Craig Rosequist on land removed from Grand Staircase-Escalante. Kimmerle Mining filed claims in Bears Ears after Trump’s 2017 rollback and opened a small uranium and vanadium exploration site."

Right now, these are just claims and don't represent actual industrial mining operations, so it's slightly different than what we're seeing in Minnesota's Boundary Waters and in Alaska for the Ambler Road and Dalton Highway. However, if approved, and given the administration's previous want for more extractive industries, especially with the Department of the Interior headed by Doug Burgum, they're likely to be approved, with these industries ready to go almost immediately. For proof of that, see what's going on in Big Bend National Park in the name of homeland security and bulldozers plowing through once pristine ecosystems.

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So what's next? Unclear.

Again, these are still just claims, but if approved, and depending on their size, they could negatively impact your recreation in places where you once could recreate, thereby reducing your access to your public lands. We can, and should, write to the Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, and our local representatives and voice our opinions. And if and when the federal or state governments issue comment periods on these claims and whatever industrial mining they could entail, we should voice our opinions then. Right now, however, gear up, cause the fight for conserving our public lands to off-road, camp, hike, fish, and hunt is going to be brutal.