Opponents to efforts by a Canadian miner exploiting the General Mining Act of 1872 and targeting lands on the Black Hills National Forest abutting tribal-owned off-reservation property are hinting legal action.
Last year Montana environmental policy advocate Bonnie Gestring told an audience observing World Water Day at the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City that tribal nations should support proposed regulations and two new federal companion bills that lead to reform of the 1872 law.
Drilling for the proposed “Rochford Gold Project” would take place south of Rochford in the areas of Rapid Creek, Castle Creek, Bloody Gulch and Reynolds Prairie – known as Pe’ Sla to the Lakota and an especially sacred location within the Black Hills, all of which are considered sacred to tribal nations. A number of Black Hills organizations have banded together to oppose Mineral Mountain Resources’ efforts including Save Rochford and Rapid Creek (SRRC), Dakota Rural Action (DAR) and the Clean Water Alliance. Mineral Mountain Resources’ Plan of Operations proposes 21,000 square feet of drill pads and hundreds of drill holes, each 1,500-5,000 feet deep, on federal lands. Requests for a comment on the proposed mining project by South Dakota U.S. Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds as well as Representative Kristi Noem were not returned.Read the rest of Jim Kent's piece here.
Last year Montana environmental policy advocate Bonnie Gestring told an audience observing World Water Day at the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City that tribal nations should support proposed regulations and two new federal companion bills that lead to reform of the 1872 law.
No comments:
Post a Comment