THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, September 12, 1995 TAG: 9509120001
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A10 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines
Lest you doubt the power of Washington lobbyists, consider the recent sale of mineral-rich government land in Idaho worth possibly $1 billion. The 110-acre plot was sold to Faxe Kalk Inc., a Danish mining company, for $275. (That'll chop away at the ol' federal deficit!)
An 1872 law requires the government to sell certain mineral-rich federal land, including mining rights, for as little as $2.50 an acre - less than ``dirt cheap'' - to promote mining.
The Associated Press reported last week: ``Congress has sought for years to change the law, but under strong pressure from the mining industry, Western lawmakers repeatedly have blocked the legislation. Supporters of the law argue it helps to promote mining in the United States and preserve jobs.''
You may have noticed before that any law making certain people rich must be retained ``to preserve jobs.'' (If preserving jobs is all-important, why is corporate downsizing rampant and widely applauded?)
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt reluctantly approved the Idaho land sale, saying, ``I find this process where my hands are tied by a law signed by Ulysses S. Grant increasingly distasteful.'' (Babbitt didn't say if Grant was sober when he signed the bill.)
The hard-pressed federal government is losing $100 million a year in royalties from hard-rock mining, Babbitt said.
An industry-supported mining reform bill before Congress is merely cosmetic, Babbitt charged. It would require a 2 percent royalty on net profits on minerals taken under the 1872 law.
The Idaho land that sold for the price of three pairs of jogging shoes used to belong to you. Now it belongs to Faxe Kalk Inc. of Denmark. Maybe when the company is done mining it will make a park. A neat name would be: ``Billion Dollar Park.'' by CNB