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Show f,oab Miners Urged to Action Af Thursday Meetina Here rt federal mining l.is pending lei;isl.uie lisi'iisstHi last week at j spvial nuH'linK of ihe I'l.lh IlldopOIUtlMlt Miners Claim 0iu'is Association. Asso-ciation. Cuesl speakers ;U Hie meeting Nov. 1st, 111 tho Craiul County Courthouse were Hep. -'alin HUu'K, of Hland-".';. Hland-".';. attorney Robert (i. Kees, aiul I'lM X (.'OA ehairnun .loo Stoeks, of Moab. Agenda of Hie mooting included a general re-iew re-iew of tho Hills, an open forum, aiul a per-uul per-uul f general discussion. dis-cussion. Introduction and roio of Sonalo Hill 1010 was given bv .loo Slocks. California attor-noy attor-noy Robert C. Koos, residing re-siding in Moab acted a program moderator and presented an objective outline of Senate Hill 1010. Hep. Calvin HlacK presented pre-sented his views on Son-ate Son-ate Hills 1010 and 1011 and the affect this legislation le-gislation would have on Hie general public. "We need to establish," Cal HlacK warned, "a continuity con-tinuity of thought with the public regarding Senate Sen-ate Hills 1040 and Ki ll." "The passage of these two federal mining bills," Cal HlacK continued, con-tinued, "will adversely affect many people other than prospectors, miners, min-ers, and chill operators." oper-ators." "The Secretary of Interior will have power pow-er of control of all HI,M land and passage of SKIIl) and S 10-11 will eventually ev-entually effect cattlemen, cattle-men, sportsman, and tour guide operators," he concluded. During the meeting Attorney At-torney Robert (J. Hees discussed from an opinion op-inion standpoint and personal per-sonal summary, "The Mineral Leasing Act of 1073," pertinent parts of Senate Hill Ki ll). "We should become critically aware of Section 124,''' Mr. Roes warned, quoting quot-ing directly form the Bill, "The secretary is authorized to issue'and revise as appropriate such regulations as ho finds necessary or desirable de-sirable to carry out the provisions and purposes of this Act. The secretary secre-tary is authorized to make such inspections and investigations as he considers necessary or appropriate to develop or enforce Federal regulations, re-gulations, or otherwise carry out the purpose of this Act, and for such purpose authorized representatives re-presentatives of the Secretary Se-cretary shall have the right of entry to any area ar-ea covered by any lease. In order to enforce the right of entry into a specific spe-cific area the Secretary may obtain a warrant from the appropriate district court to authorize author-ize such entry." 'This act,'" Robert G. Rees continued, 'repeals not only the 1872 Mining Law, but also the (1920) Mineral Leasing Act. the (1927) Potash Leasing Act. the (1926) Sulphur Leasing Act, and the (1930) Railroad and Other Ot-her Rights-of - Way Leasing Act.' Tn addition,' addi-tion,' Mr. Rees pointed out. 'any mining claim secured through the authority au-thority of the Mining Law of 1872 must, under the new law, (1) He recor-j recor-j ded with the Secretary i of Interior within one 1 year. Any claim not so i recorded is presumed I void. (2) Any claim so recorded must be Ap-i Ap-i plied for Patent, within three years of recordation recorda-tion or its validity must be proven.' Prospecting licenses issued, Mr. Rees stated, and leases will replace claim staking. All leases will be subject to com-i com-i petitive bidding. Environmental Envir-onmental regulations shall be developed and issued by the Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Rees read from his summary. Enforcement Authority may be delegated to the Land Administering Agency, Ag-ency, he concluded. The practical effect of this is the Secretary of the Interior will have an unlimited un-limited law making power po-wer with the authority for himself, or his ag- ents to enforce that power po-wer with a warrant. 1'IM and COA chairman chair-man Joe Stocks said. It is anticipated the San Juan County Commission Commiss-ion and Grand County Commission will request a public hearing of the new mining bills in this area. Rep. Calvin Hlack advised ad-vised the group that letters let-ters to elected representatives repre-sentatives by interested individuals are not letters let-ters of isolated criticism. critic-ism. In the L'tah Legislature, Legis-lature, he said, we look upon and we vole upon many hundred bills each session, and we are forced for-ced to acknowledge recommendations re-commendations from other ot-her groups. Because of the volumn of bills before be-fore the legislature our elected representatives are not fully aware of specific contents of a given bill, until letters from concerned citizens alert them of the inher-ant inher-ant dangers. Atty. Robert G. Rees and Rep. Black were in agreement from a legal and a practical standpoint. The Secretary Secreta-ry of the Interior will be given broad unrestricted unrestri-cted discretionary powers pow-ers which will eventually eventual-ly affect not only miners and drill rig operators, but cattlemen, sportsmen, sports-men, tour operators, and individuals alike, Mr. Rees concluded. The special meeting of the UIM and COA was taped electronically by Harold Stewart. |