Don Young: “Alaska has a long history of placer mining operations, beginning in the early 1800s and continuing through today. In…”

“Alaska has a long history of placer mining operations, beginning in the early 1800s and continuing through today. In fact, Alaska is one of the few places left, including California, that has placer mining operations. Most placer mining operations are small, but it as a robust industry in Alaska, providing hundreds of jobs and contributing to the growth of rural Alaskan communities. The Bureau of Land Management's Fortymile plan, finalized in the last days of the previous administration, upended decades of successful placer mining land management in the Fortymile Planning Area. The Fortymile plan imposed an overly complex regulatory framework on small-scale placer mining operations as part of an ongoing effort to discourage mining activity in the area. The Fortymile miners previously agreed to environmental remediation standards, and under the new plan proposed by the BLM, they are expected to reclaim land that they have not mined and mitigate in ways they did not agree to in their approved operation plans. They are expected to remediate land that was impacted by placer mining over 100 years ago, which adds to their financial burden and makes it economically impractical for miners to continue their operations. This language has been included in the appropriations report language by unanimous consent for the last 2 years.…”