With tensions between ranchers and the federal government at an all time high, one state is considering taking the fight on behalf of it’s citizens to Washington D.C.
Inhabited by many of the people who have had their livelihoods threatened or outright destroyed by intrusive government practices, the state of Utah is debating whether to file a lawsuit against the feds in the state legislature. Such a lawsuit would challenge the legitimacy of the federal government’s claims to public lands in the state.
Naturally, the proposed case against Washington has sparked controversy amongst proponents of ranchers’ rights. Some argue that the costly nature of such a lawsuit – estimated to be $14 million – could end up hurting the state more than it helps, urging caution before they move forward with it.
Others like State Representative Mel Brown, however, say that it is unseemly to talk about people’s rights as if they were a matter of dollars and cents. “The cost in my mind shouldn’t even be a discussion. It’s trivial,” he said, before adding “How can you put price on self-determination and freedom?”
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This land belongs to the States, not the Feds.. Law says Feds only own 10 miles around Washington, DC. Feds are trying to steal this land so Hillary and her cronies can sell the mineral rights (like Uranium) to foreign countries which they can use to make bombs. Don’t let them get away with this We need to all stand together.
They should because this is where Obama plans to put all these refugees
Yes, I have been watching very closely! We will have to pray, maybe the next president can get it straighten out! I pray anyway! This country is turning commie!
They probably want to give it to China to pay off some debt.
The real stories and why AGENDA 21: THE BLM LAND GRABBING ENDGAME google this. Control the resources control the people Sprawling Malheur County could soon be in the spotlight as a mining hub — or a battleground of uranium and gold mining interests vs. environmentalists trying to protect its lonesome sagebrush landscape.
Australian-owned Oregon Energy LLC hopes to mine 18 million pounds of yellowcake uranium from the southeastern Oregon high desert 10 miles west of McDermitt near the Oregon-Nevada boundary. The go-ahead to mine the so-called Aurora uranium deposit could bring up to 250 construction jobs to the county, followed by 150 mining jobs.
Meanwhile, Calico Resources USA Corp., a subsidiary of a Vancouver, B.C., company, may seek permits this month to chemically extract microscopic gold from a high desert butte south of Vale called Grassy Mountain, a project likely to create another 100 jobs.
Mining history
Gold: Mining once was a major part of Oregon’s economy and the most sought-after mineral was gold. Since its discovery in Oregon in the mid-1800s, miners have wrested an estimated 5.5 million ounces of gold from the state’s streams and underground “hardrock” mines. At today’s prices, that gold would bring about $1,616 per ounce. Half to two-thirds was found in northeastern Oregon. Baker County and Josephine County have had the most active claims.
Uranium: Uranium was first discovered in Oregon in the 1930s and a small amount was mined on Bear Creek Butte, 40 miles southeast of Bend, in 1960. The White King and Lucky Lass mines near Lakeview came later and there are known deposits of uranium in Baker, Clackamas, Crook, Curry, Harney, Jackson, Lake, Malheur, Polk and Union counties.
The proposals will be the first real test of the 1991 chemical processing mining law passed by the Legislature in response to a debate over mining’s future in Oregon, said environmentalist Larry Tuttle. The law ushered in tough new bonding requirements to weed out marginal operators and guarantee environmental cleanup.
Approval of the Grassy Mountain project could trigger a deluge of new chemical mining in Malheur County. Up to a dozen gold deposits similar to Grassy Mountain dot the high desert between the Snake River town of Huntington and Jordan Valley.
The county, sparsely populated with only 31,313 people, could use new jobs, said County Commissioner Dan Joyce. Its unemployment rate in November was 10.3 percent, compared with 9.1 percent for Oregon and 8.6 percent for the nation.
Mining companies have passed up the county in the past because of Oregon’s environmentally conscious reputation, Joyce said. But this time, the sluggish local and state economies, higher mineral prices and technological advances in mining and cleanup could open a door to mining, he said.
“I’m thinking people are a lot hungrier now than they were,” Joyce said.
Uranium mine plan
Oregon Energy’s proposal calls for extracting ore from a mile-long, 600-foot wide, 250-foot deep open pit 10 miles west of McDermitt and 3 miles north of the Oregon-Nevada border. The mine, adjoining the former Bretz Mercury Mine, a contaminated open-pit site from the 1960s, would cost $200 million to develop and uranium extraction could continue for up to 20 years, said Oregon Energy President Lachlan Reynolds.
Plans call for the ore to be crushed and mixed with an acid solution in enclosed vats to leach out the uranium, he said. The acid would bond with the uranium and when dry become a sand-like powder called uranium oxide concentrate, or yellowcake. Yellowcake would bring $52 per pound and could fuel nuclear reactors or be processed into weapons.
Tuttle, spokesman for the Portland-based Center for Environmental Equity, foresees environmental problems.
The likelihood of sulfuric acid being used in processing the ore means it could remain in the mine tailings after milling, he said. The snag is that sulfuric acid tends to continuously leach out heavy metals that occur naturally in waste rock and tailings, contaminating ground water.
Btw… the land belongs to the people and the people only the feds are full o$#%&!@*.. read and learn…
Such beauty
I would do that
Screw the feds
Kinda late???