In February, I took a Jeep ride up a rocky road in the Mojave National Preserve. At the top, I found an old gold mine. An Australian company, Dateline Resources Ltd., had recently started looking for rare earth minerals there. However, they were in a heated dispute with the National Park Service. The Service claimed Dateline was operating without permission and had damaged the environment. Dateline argued they were right to mine under an old plan approved decades ago.
Just weeks before my visit, President Trump took office. Environmental advocates pointed out that this conflict would be a key test of his administration’s approach to corporate use of public land. Surprisingly, many people from both political sides support protecting these lands, which was a hopeful sign.
Fast-forward nearly a year, and it seemed clear that the Trump administration leaned toward corporations. Trump instructed the Department of the Interior to prioritize mining on federal land, pushing for faster permits and reviews for energy projects. He even classified metallurgical coal as a critical mineral, which let companies qualify for big tax breaks.
His budget also reduced the fees companies had to pay for extracting resources like coal and oil from public lands. More significantly, the administration opened millions of acres for new coal leases and aimed to roll back protections that had been in place for years. They targeted areas like the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska and parts of historical parks.
Critics, including U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury from New Mexico, expressed strong concerns. She noted this administration’s actions mirrored the massive land exploitation during the late 19th century. Laws have shifted to favor mining companies over public land protections, and it’s a scenario reminiscent of the so-called “robber baron” era, which lacked regulation.
Stansbury has proposed new legislation to increase mining fees and ensure the funds benefit conservation. She sees her efforts as just a small step in a much larger struggle to safeguard public lands against aggressive extraction policies.
Regarding the Colosseum Mine, the Department of the Interior sided with Dateline Resources, allowing them to continue their operations. Following this decision, the company’s stock surged, and they began a major drilling initiative that uncovered promising gold deposits.
Interestingly, in the broader context of land use and conservation, the Pacific Forest Trust recently returned nearly 900 acres near Yosemite National Park to the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation. This move is significant since the Indigenous people were removed from their land during the California Gold Rush. The land transfer is seen as a hope for their long fight for federal recognition.
In California, lawmakers are working on legislation to conserve over 1.7 million acres of public land, aiming to protect areas like Los Padres National Forest. However, there are growing concerns about offroad vehicle use in sensitive habitats, as a court recently ruled that California State Parks is violating the Endangered Species Act by allowing such activity.
Despite these ongoing conservation efforts, external investigations have raised red flags regarding the grazing program on public lands. It has shifted from protecting the environment to benefiting a select group, including wealthy hobby ranchers.
The dynamic between conservation and exploitation is still very much alive today. As the Trump administration has pushed to relax regulations, advocates are left to navigate this rapidly changing landscape, often feeling like they’re in a game of whack-a-mole.
This ongoing situation serves as an important reminder: the battle over public lands and their uses is not just about the ground beneath our feet but also about the values we uphold for future generations. As we look ahead, it’s essential to balance the interests of corporations with the need for environmental stewardship.
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