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SUMMIT COUNTY - Pending legislation in Congress could open significant chunks of national forest land in Summit County to mining activities and real estate speculation, public land watchdog groups said last week, keeping a close eye on the proposal to reinstate the sale of mining lands to private interests as part of a budget bill passed by the U.S. House.
At issue is a move by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., to lift a decade-old moratorium on the patenting of mining claims under the Mining Law of 1872. Under that law, private companies or individuals can essentially convert public land to private ownership if they can prove there is a possibility of profitably mining the land.
But critics say that, as written, the measure doesn't even require that the land be mined once it's acquired. So in addition to the potential threat of mining activities, Pombo's bill opens the pandora's box of real estate development across potentially tens of thousands of acres of national forest land in Colorado.
Forest Service officials said they couldn't estimate how many acres in Summit County might be affected by the proposal, but explained that some lands (including campgrounds and permitted ski area terrain, for example) have been formally "withdrawn" from consideration for mineral patents. But considering that Summit County sits smack in the Colorado mineral belt, and the history of mining activity in the area, it's conceivable that thousands of acres could harbor significant mineral deposits that could profitably be mined.
Real threat
The threat is very real, said Adam Poe, a land exchange expert with Western Land Group. A 1996 land swap involving a 160-acre parcel in Keystone Gulch illustrates how the patenting process can be used to leverage real estate value from patented mining claims, ultimately at great cost to the public.
"It's a really good example of what could happen if the moratorium is lifted," Poe said.
In 1983, Mark Hinton patented 160 acres in Keystone Gulch under the 1872 mining law. County records don't show what the original cost of that patent was, but Poe estimated that the average cost for patenting mining claims was about $10 per acre.
"Nobody thought there was ever any intent to mine that land," Poe said, explaining that shortly after Hinton acquired the land, he proposed development of a subdivision on the parcel, which straddles Keystone Gulch Road in the vicinity of the U.S. Geological Survey stream gauge.
Even as Hinton was patenting the land, Keystone was in the process of planning its Outback expansion. Keystone Gulch Road, passing through Hinton's newly patented mining claim, was the main access to the proposed new ski terrain, said Poe. A patent document on file at the Summit County Courthouse shows there was a 20-foot public access easement associated with the patent.
"The barbed wire went up on both sides of the road," Poe recalled.
County residential property appraisal records show that, for tax purposes, the parcel was valued at about $23,000 dollars in 1984. By 1989, that value had climbed to about $45,000. Then, in 1990, the 160 acres was sold to an entity called the Summit Land Company for $1,050,000. County records indicate that the Summit Land Company merged with Ralston Resorts (owner of Keystone) in 1995.
Skyrocketing values?
Just a year later, the 160-acre parcel in Keystone Gulch (now owned by Ralston) was appraised at a value of close to $3 million as part of the land swap that saw the Montezuma parking lot go from public to private ownership. In effect, the American public, through the U.S. Forest Service, had to come up with $3 million worth of public lands to trade with Ralston to bring the Keystone Gulch parcel back into public ownership. In the end, Ralston donated one piece of the land as part of the swap to meet the equal value requirements of federal land trade rules.
"It's mind-boggling," Forest Service land specialist Paul Semmer said of the increase in the parcel's value in 13 short years. "If there's an unpatented mining claim, there's a foot in the door," Semmer added, trying to estimate the potential impacts to Forest Service lands in Summit County.
At the same time, Semmer said the proposed lifting of the moratorium shouldn't trigger a rush to real estate speculation, considering the extensive process required to show that there is indeed a valuable resource and that it could be extracted profitably.
Altogether, about 20 million acres of public land across the country could be affected by Pombo's measure, environmental groups estimated. As currently written in the bill, mining claims could even be patented in National Parks and wilderness areas.
The City of Aspen and Pitkin County have raised objections to Pombo's measure based on potential impacts to natural resources, the threat of development in backcountry areas and the potential effects on the region's recreation-based economy.
The Senate version of the budget bill does not include a similar provision, and The Denver Post has urged Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar and Republican Sen. Wayne Allard to lead the Senate in "nixing the land grab."
For more information, go to: www.bettermines.org/pombo.cfm.
Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.
At issue is a move by Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Calif., to lift a decade-old moratorium on the patenting of mining claims under the Mining Law of 1872. Under that law, private companies or individuals can essentially convert public land to private ownership if they can prove there is a possibility of profitably mining the land.
But critics say that, as written, the measure doesn't even require that the land be mined once it's acquired. So in addition to the potential threat of mining activities, Pombo's bill opens the pandora's box of real estate development across potentially tens of thousands of acres of national forest land in Colorado.
Forest Service officials said they couldn't estimate how many acres in Summit County might be affected by the proposal, but explained that some lands (including campgrounds and permitted ski area terrain, for example) have been formally "withdrawn" from consideration for mineral patents. But considering that Summit County sits smack in the Colorado mineral belt, and the history of mining activity in the area, it's conceivable that thousands of acres could harbor significant mineral deposits that could profitably be mined.
Real threat
The threat is very real, said Adam Poe, a land exchange expert with Western Land Group. A 1996 land swap involving a 160-acre parcel in Keystone Gulch illustrates how the patenting process can be used to leverage real estate value from patented mining claims, ultimately at great cost to the public.
"It's a really good example of what could happen if the moratorium is lifted," Poe said.
In 1983, Mark Hinton patented 160 acres in Keystone Gulch under the 1872 mining law. County records don't show what the original cost of that patent was, but Poe estimated that the average cost for patenting mining claims was about $10 per acre.
"Nobody thought there was ever any intent to mine that land," Poe said, explaining that shortly after Hinton acquired the land, he proposed development of a subdivision on the parcel, which straddles Keystone Gulch Road in the vicinity of the U.S. Geological Survey stream gauge.
Even as Hinton was patenting the land, Keystone was in the process of planning its Outback expansion. Keystone Gulch Road, passing through Hinton's newly patented mining claim, was the main access to the proposed new ski terrain, said Poe. A patent document on file at the Summit County Courthouse shows there was a 20-foot public access easement associated with the patent.
"The barbed wire went up on both sides of the road," Poe recalled.
County residential property appraisal records show that, for tax purposes, the parcel was valued at about $23,000 dollars in 1984. By 1989, that value had climbed to about $45,000. Then, in 1990, the 160 acres was sold to an entity called the Summit Land Company for $1,050,000. County records indicate that the Summit Land Company merged with Ralston Resorts (owner of Keystone) in 1995.
Skyrocketing values?
Just a year later, the 160-acre parcel in Keystone Gulch (now owned by Ralston) was appraised at a value of close to $3 million as part of the land swap that saw the Montezuma parking lot go from public to private ownership. In effect, the American public, through the U.S. Forest Service, had to come up with $3 million worth of public lands to trade with Ralston to bring the Keystone Gulch parcel back into public ownership. In the end, Ralston donated one piece of the land as part of the swap to meet the equal value requirements of federal land trade rules.
"It's mind-boggling," Forest Service land specialist Paul Semmer said of the increase in the parcel's value in 13 short years. "If there's an unpatented mining claim, there's a foot in the door," Semmer added, trying to estimate the potential impacts to Forest Service lands in Summit County.
At the same time, Semmer said the proposed lifting of the moratorium shouldn't trigger a rush to real estate speculation, considering the extensive process required to show that there is indeed a valuable resource and that it could be extracted profitably.
Altogether, about 20 million acres of public land across the country could be affected by Pombo's measure, environmental groups estimated. As currently written in the bill, mining claims could even be patented in National Parks and wilderness areas.
The City of Aspen and Pitkin County have raised objections to Pombo's measure based on potential impacts to natural resources, the threat of development in backcountry areas and the potential effects on the region's recreation-based economy.
The Senate version of the budget bill does not include a similar provision, and The Denver Post has urged Democratic Sen. Ken Salazar and Republican Sen. Wayne Allard to lead the Senate in "nixing the land grab."
For more information, go to: www.bettermines.org/pombo.cfm.
Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.
