The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
The mining newspaper for Alaska and Canada's North
Sorted by date Results 101 - 125 of 170
The Chuitna coal project has long been on the kill list for the environmental conflicts Industry. Litigation against the government is among the Enviro-Cons' favorite tools. For reasons that sometimes defy understanding, the courts view such litigation as somehow being in the public interest; and, accordingly, cut this particular ilk of non-governmental organization far more slack than can be justified by reason. At one point, a generation ago, it made a modicum of good sense... Full story
Tom Kizzia has written a biographical account of the life and times of Robert Hale, who some folks will recall was a high-profile figure in the fight of in-holders to secure their statutory right to access their property in the middle of the past decade. Although the relevance of Hale to the history of Alaska was his conflict with the National Park Service in the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park, Kizzia, unfortunately, takes the reader on a long and torturous frolic and deto...
Although in my judgment it is premature for little green people to write the obituary of the Pebble Project, undoubtedly it is high-centered for the nonce, (however long a nonce may be); but that shouldn't prevent us from reflecting on some of the silly arguments that have been made against the project. Undoubtedly, the greatest success in that regard was the implication that somehow the project, if it evolved into a mine, would somehow make fish in Bristol Bay die. The outspoken proponents of that point of view, generally sp... Full story
As a co-chairman of the Federal Oversight Committee of the Alaska Miners Association for the past many years, it is interesting to me to see how the flow of new tinkering with the conduct of local affairs ebbs and flows at various stages of an incumbent federal administration. The federal government still owns more 27 percent of our nation's land, concentrated in the 11 contiguous western states and Alaska. About 225 million acres, or 62 percent, of our state falls into that category. Therefore, land management is of...
On the theory that making the loser pay for at least a portion of the fees and costs associated with litigation lacks merit, the Alaska Rules of Civil Procedure recite that on application and subject to judicial oversight, the prevailing party may secure an award of the costs and a portion of the attorney's fees incurred by the prevailing party at the conclusion of a lawsuit brought in the courts of this state. At first blush this might seem like a sound rule; however, it has always been subject to debate, primarily because...
At the end of October this year, the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska handed down a case brought by Alaskan John Sturgeon, as another in a long list of decisions upholding the federal government's power to circumscribe our rights to use reasonable and appropriate methods of access to remote areas of the State. Without criticizing either the outcome or the reasoning that was used to achieve that outcome, this case, if it withstands appeal, will be just one additional landmark along the way to the apparent... Full story
Many concerned Alaskans may have read former State Senator Clem Tillion's op-ed piece in the July 2, 2013, issue of the Alaska Dispatch concerning the royalty that might be paid to the people of Alaska should the Pebble Project one day become a mine. Sen. Tillion argues that at current rates, the royalties to the state would be insufficient to justify allowing the Pebble Project to go forward. His message seems to be that developing Alaska's resources, when properly... Full story
Here's an open letter to Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska: Dear Sen. Begich, Last week, I had the privilege to sit in on a constituent teleconference with you concerning a number of issues confronting Alaska. During the course of your comments, and in response to a question concerning the Pebble Project, you indicated that you were reserving judgment until EPA's pending Bristol Bay Assessment was complete. Implicitly, you suggested that the assessment was entitled to great weight,...
Each year about this time, the sun begins to shine like never before, the rivers rise and the ice melts, the daylight hours grow longer, and miners across Alaska bend their shoulders to their avocation. While it is true that the endless problems we all face don't go away; nonetheless, they seem to take their place as a part of the background noise with which we have to deal while getting on with the real business of life. Somehow, despite the unending bickering in Washington,... Full story
About 2,500 years ago, Heraclitus of Ephesus observed that the only constant is change. Looking out the window on a snowy Alaska April morning brings this observation home once again. It is amusing to reflect on the acrimony associated with "global warming," which was renamed "climate change" when it became apparent that the last decade has not proven to be as warm as the preceding decade. As one observer put it, "global temperatures are warmer than about 75 percent of... Full story
It has been a long time since we have had a president who has hailed from a public lands state and, even though we have had some secretaries of the Interior from the West, they have ranged from the inept to total disaster. For reasons that are undoubtedly our own fault, not only do the unscrubbed masses seem not to know or care where the raw materials that make our modern community work come from, but the intelligentsia in command seem blithely indifferent to the health and...
With the re-inauguration of the President, Alaska's miners are being forced to hunker down and withstand yet another election cycle wondering what gifts the federal agencies will bestow upon us now. Interior Secretary Salazar is out. His replacement has yet to be identified; however, there is little room to be optimistic. Even under friendly administrations, the selection of Secretary of the Interior has not served us well. The environmentalist community undoubtedly has the...
There are those who walk among us who move the earth with a simple smile. One such being was the late David Stone, whose untimely passing on Nov. 20, 2012 leaves us with a hole in our hearts. Although David was not born here - he moved to Alaska in his early teens - he was an Alaskan through and through. He loved Juneau and the historic mines that had ceased production nearly three decades before his arrival. He loved to explore the tunnels and chambers of the... Full story
For reasons that escape me at the moment, the re-election of President Obama brings to mind another fairy-tale administration that led our nation barely 50 years ago. To be sure, it was a different era with different priorities and prejudices, but it captured for America a mystical place which few could hope to visit, but which everyone wanted to reach for - a rock candy world without the cavities. Realists cynically shake their heads in wonder at the ragtag troupe that... Full story
On Oct.15, 2012, Joseph A. Main, Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health announced that "recently finalized data shows that in 2011, fatality and injury rates were the lowest in history." Main went on to say that "in the Metal/Nonmetal mining sector, the fatal injury rate was .0084 per 200,000 hours worked and the all-injury rate was 2.28 per 200,000 hours worked." He said, "No miner should have to die on the job just to earn a paycheck," and we all agree. Nota...
Among the many blessings the founders of our Republic bestowed upon us is the incredibly good idea of having our national executive isolated from the legislative and judicial branches. In most parliamentary democracies, the head of the legislative branch is also the de facto head of the executive branch, so he (or she) gets to appropriate the money and then spend it. Under our system, by contrast, the executive gets to print money, and he is almost to the point where he...
Perhaps it's just me, but this year's election cycle seems to have an uncharacteristically high level of venom and spleen, at least at the national level. The words "hate" and "liar" seem to have all of a sudden become politically correct in a macabre kind of way. We in Alaska, however, are going to have to watch from the sidelines due to the fact that there is no U. S. Senate race here and with our mere three electoral votes, we simply are not going to be a feather in the wind of the Presidential race. Instead, we will have... Full story
The very founding of our country was premised upon resistance to governmental excesses. Authors and movie producers from Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged ("A government is the most dangerous threat to man's rights: it holds a legal monopoly on the use of physical force against legally disarmed victims.") to Steven Spielberg's "Men in Black" (Bug: "Place your projectile weapon on the ground." Edgar: "You can have my gun, when you pry it from my cold dead fingers." Bug: "Your proposal is acceptable.") have warned us against the...
On May 18, 2012, the EPA released for public comment a draft scientific study of the Bristol Bay watershed and its natural resources. Under the Clean Water Act, EPA claims the authority to perform scientific studies that enhance the public's knowledge of water resources. Whether, as a matter of law, the agency has that authority, is disputed, but for the purpose of this conversation, it is irrelevant because the more pressing question is whether, assuming such authority, it is... Full story
In the waning days of the Vietnam Mistake, the popular lyrics of the Animals' most famous hit were in the hearts and on the lips of every soldier. The nation was divided. It seemed like we couldn't go forward, we didn't want to go backward, and remaining in place was impossible. Indecision was endemic and leadership was lacking. A popular, charismatic and totally inexperienced president had allowed us to get sucked into foreign entanglements, and a sinister megalomaniac got... Full story
For the past however many months we have been enduring the Republican presidential nominating process, which has winnowed the field from eight to four candidates. Of the four, former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts is generally deemed the closest thing to a moderate and Ron Paul wears the Libertarian brand. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and U.S. Rep. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., seem to be scrambling for the "conservative" middle, with Santorum displaying a slight edge. Accord...
Once upon a time, not so many years ago, mining was a laudable calling. As a child I tapped my foot as Tennessee Ernie Ford sang about mining "16 Tons" of coal a day, and Jimmy Dean serenaded us about the heroic act of "Big Bad John" in saving his fellow miners. Even before that, I sat around many a campfire and sang (off key) about "My Darling, Clementine." In the pre-World War II days when the A. J. Mine in Juneau was stamping away at the gold-laden quartz that was being...
It is axiomatic that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, and we who stand watch over America's mining industry know all too well that there is little the Detractors would rather do than to shut down this and all other basic manufacturing sectors. Witness a recent op-ed in the New York Times wherein Alaska's very own Carol Ann Woody advocated doing away with the General Mining Law of 1872 because, among other reasons, the Kensington Mine was allowed to go forward. Now I have not personally made the acquaintance of Ms....
As probably everyone who follows this column realizes, I spend most of my life looking at the world through the wrong end of the telescope. On the other hand, with apologies to Dr. Seuss: "Oh, the things you will see." During the recent noise masquerading as the selection process for the presidential candidate of the Republican Party, I have listened carefully, in vain, for something that seems simple and self-evident to me. First, and as a premise, I assume that no "money"...
