U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) is helping steer a Congressional Western Caucus initiative regarding American mineral mining that is championed by Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Rep. Emmer and other members of the caucus seek a comprehensive review by the Trump administration of all mineral withdrawals executed under the previous administration and for action to be taken “to scrap any mineral withdrawals determined to be without merit and whose purpose served to block responsible development,” according to a May 2 letter sent to U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, and Vicki Christiansen, interim chief of the U.S. Forest Service.
“Despite the vital importance of minerals, the previous Administration took dozens of anti-mining actions, which, if left in place, will stifle job creation, decimate local economies and disrupt public education funding streams,” according to the letter signed by Rep. Emmer and 22 House Republican colleagues. “This overreach locked up millions of acres of federal lands under false pretenses and harmed our nation’s domestic mineral supply.”
Members asked that a review confirm the withdrawals’ statutory compliance, as well as consider their practicality, necessity and economic and national security impacts, according to a joint May 4 statement released by Rep. Emmer, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ), U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR), chief infrastructure and forestry officer for the caucus, and numerous organizations that endorsed the lawmakers’ letter.
Among the members joining Reps. Emmer, Gosar and Westerman in signing the letter were U.S. Reps. Mark Amodei (R-NV) and Jackie Walorski (R-IN).
In the letter, the lawmakers charge that the Obama administration proposed at least 31 domestic mineral withdrawals near the end of President Barack Obama’s term that not only “appease extremist special interest groups,” but also increase U.S. dependence on strategic and critical minerals from foreign countries.
“This dependency is incredibly dangerous for our national security and the country’s future prosperity,” the House members wrote.
Also in their letter, the lawmakers highlighted three examples of what they termed “political mineral withdrawals intended to block responsible development,” including a “land grab” in Rep. Emmer’s home state of Minnesota at the Superior National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service on Jan. 5, 2017 had proposed a 20-year, federal mineral withdrawal of National Forest Service lands in the park that covered more than 234,000 acres that immediately placed the area off limits to development for up to two years while the withdrawal is considered.
“In their final hours, without hesitation or merit, the Obama Administration put thousands of jobs on notice, threatened the economic foundation of communities around the country, including in Minnesota, and took steps to make it harder for the United States to access minerals and materials critical to our national security,” said Rep. Emmer in the joint statement. “These actions blocked responsible projects from proving they can be done while protecting our environment.”
Rep. Gosar said the massive mineral removals have been harmful to local communities and their economies.
“The Trump Administration has done an incredible job signaling that it supports responsible job creation and opposes arbitrary or political violations of the rule of law,” said Rep. Gosar. “The next natural step in acting on that agenda is to reverse these withdrawals. President Trump: Believe it or not, some of our people still aren’t tired of whining. Do this, and you may get Rural America to love you even more than it already does.”
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), the American Exploration & Mining Association, the National Mining Association, the American Resources Policy Network, the Arizona Mining Association, the Southern Arizona Business Coalition, the Yavapai Cattle Growers Association, and Apache County Supervisor Doyel Shamley contributed comments to the joint statement, which followed release of the lawmakers’ letter.
The House members also wrote to thank the Trump administration for cancelling the Obama administration’s proposed 10-million acre mineral withdrawal in six Western states that included more than 7,000 active mining claims they wrote were “erroneously said to be necessary in order to protect the non-endangered Sage Grouse.” The members called the proposed withdrawal political and described it as being “designed to appeal to donors and radical environmental groups rather than solve a statutory or policy problem.”
Numerous individuals and organizations also were listed in the letter as supporting the lawmakers’ position and endorsing the letter, including New Mexico Wool Growers Inc., Americans for Limited Government, Utah Mining Association, Idaho Mining Association, Jobs for Minnesotans, MiningMinnesota, Arizona Mining Association, Alaska Miners Association, and the Hudbay Rosemont Copper Project.