Pombo Land Giveaway Update

Short version: it's being revised, but it still sucks.

I wrote a while back about a provision Pombo inserted into the House reconciliation bill that would require the sale of public lands adjacent to any mining claim. Today the Chronicle reports that in an effort to get the whole thing approved, they're backing off on the sale provision:

House Republican leaders are also trying to save a controversial mining provision sponsored by House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev. Critics claim the measure would allow mining companies and developers to buy large stretches of public lands in the West and use them for either mining or to build homes, malls and resorts.

Gibbons told reporters Monday he planned to drop one element of the plan -- the "direct sale" provision -- which would have allowed sales of public land next to existing mining claims for "sustainable economic development" even if the lands did not contain enough minerals to justify a mining operation.

"I hope to put to rest the hysteria regarding this new provision," Gibbons said.

But some critics say they still have concerns about the legislation. Legal experts say the bill appears to allow anyone who pays a mining claim maintenance fee and shows some interest in mining to "patent" or purchase federal land, which they could later develop as homes or for other purposes.

"The problem is that this proposal has not gone through the normal vetting process," said Mark Squillace, director of the Natural Resources Law Center at the University of Colorado. "Because of that nobody has really massaged the language so that the intent is clear. One of the big concerns I have is that we don't ultimately know what it means."

Exactly. It's the sort of backdoor legislating that is typical of this congress, and it's a perfect example of why transparency and public accountability are so essential to the process.

[That's all, folks]