OCR Text |
Show "^ « -w Present knowledge about the geology of mineralization in the United States, combined with the geographic pattern of established mining districts, indicates a strong probability that the public land areas of the West generally hold greater promise for future mineral discoveries than any other region'. Consequently, we have concluded that it is in the public interest to acknowledge and recognize the importance of mineral exploration and development in public land legislation. Also, a decision to exclude mineral activity from any public land area should never be made casually or without adequate information concerning the mineral potential. Mineral exploration and development should have a preference over some or all other uses on much of our public lands. As a land use, mineral production has several distinctive characteristics. Mineral deposits of economic value are relatively rare and, therefore, there is little opportunity to choose between available sites for mineral production, as there often is in allocating land for other types of use. Also, development of a productive mineral deposit is ordinarily the highest economic use of land. While mineral exploration activities are conducted over substantial areas of land, experience has demonstrated that mineral production requires less surface area than most other land uses. For example, in 1966 Arizona was the western state in which mining was conducted over the largest area. Nevertheless, only 0.13 of one percent of the state's area was actually used for this purpose. Therefore, a use preference is warranted by nature's sparse and random distribution of valuable mineral deposits and the vital relationship between our national welfare and 122 assured supplies of minerals. Furthermore, a worthwhile mineral deposit is usually concealed and becomes available to meet our national needs only as the result of an expensive, long-term and high risk search effort. The Federal Government generally should rely on the private sector for mineral exploration, development, and production by maintaining a continuing invitation to explore for and develop minerals on the public lands. We are satisfied that private enterprise his succeeded well in meeting our national mineral needs, and we see no reason to change this traditional policy. Existing Federal programs to develop nationwide geological information should be continued and strengthened. These Federal programs should serve to identify general areas favorable to mineral occurrence with detailed exploration and development left to private enterprise. The efforts of private enterprise will be effective only if Federal policy, law, and administrative practices provide a continuing invitation to explore and develop minerals on public lands. Even though we are concerned about various impacts on the environment, and make recommendations in this report for the strengthening of the Federal Government's authority to regulate such impacts, we recognize that mineral exploration, development, and production will, in most cases, have an impact on the environment, or be incompatible with some other uses. By its very nature, mineral activity alters the natural environment to some degree, and if no such impact were to be tolerated, it would be necessary to prohibit the activity. Mineral exploration, development, and production are essential to our na- |