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Grand Canyon threatened: Road trip, anyone?
If you've never been to the Grand Canyon, you might want to get there soon.
The Forest Service has approved drilling for uranium at as many as 39 sites near the Grand Canyon’s south rim, and we have every reason to believe that this is just the beginning. If mining companies find what they're looking for and are allowed to go in and get it, you can be sure that we'll be looking at a uranium rush.
Under the (unbelievably outdated) 1872 Mining Law, public land managers can't do anything to stop mining, even though it puts Grand Canyon at risk. As former Forest Service Chief Michael Dombeck explained in a hearing in January that "once claimed, it is nearly impossible to prohibit mining under the current framework of the 1872 Mining Law, no matter how serious the impacts might be."
And it's precisely because of that law, and the recent surge in metal prices, that the number of mining claims around Grand Canyon has jumped by nearly 40% since July.
The House passed a bill last feel that would begin to reform the outdated 1872 mining law. It would empower the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to prevent mining near our national treasures, but despite the immediacy of the threat to Grand Canyon the Senate has yet to move on the bill.