Media Transparency

Regular html version with links

Bill Berkowitz
November 22, 2005

Rep. Pombo steers public lands to private hands

DeLay clone sponsors legislation putting America's public lands up for grabs

Rep. Richard Pombo, a California Republican who represents the state's 11th District and who is the chair of the House Resources Committee is making a name for himself these days by offering up a series controversial bills relating to land use in America's national parks and other critical environmental issues. In a recent iteration of the House budget bill (Deficit Reduction Act of 2005), Pombo authored a proposal that would have opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling (that provision was removed from the budget reconciliation bill but it could still be re-inserted). Pombo also made headlines when he recently proposed privatizing 15 of America's national parks. He later claimed to be only joking!

Now it appears that Pombo is no longer joking. The former real estate salesman now in his seventh term in Congress came up with another doozy of a proposal that was tucked deep into the same 187-page House budget bill in a section called "Miscellaneous Amendments Related to Mining."

On Friday, November 18, the House approved legislation that would change "current mining law to allow the federal government to sell off some public lands in the West," the Helena, Montana -based newspaper, the Independent Record reported.

"The measure would lift a 10-year-old moratorium on the federal government processing applications by mining companies and individuals to ‘patent,' or purchase, a mining claim on public land.

"It would also change the 1872 mining law by raising the selling price for the land to $1,000 per acre or market value, whichever is higher, from the current price of either $2.50 or $5 an acre. But the price would not include the value of the minerals."

Land Grab of Historic Proportions

How much land is at stake? Environmentalists maintain that the legislation could affect all 5.7 million acres currently under claim, while Rep. Pombo says that only 360,000 acres of land would qualify.

According to an Environmental Working Group (EWG) press release dated November 10, Pombo's proposal would allow "foreign mining companies, real estate speculators, oil and mining conglomerates, or anyone else purchase up to 350 million acres of American taxpayers' lands." If passed by Congress and signed into law the EWG said, it could affect nearly 6 million acres including land in or near Yosemite, Yellowstone, Death Valley and Grand Canyon national parks.

Amending the 1872 mining law "would bring back the very worst of the Wild, Wild West and pretend that the enlightenment of the conservation movement never happened," The Salt Lake Tribune editorialized before the House vote. In the late 19th century, lawmakers thought it was a good idea to open up public land in the West to the "private exploitation of mineral wealth," and "mineral rights" were sold for next to nothing.

When "it became increasingly obvious that developers were buying billions of dollars worth of mining rights and giving the taxpayers virtually nothing in return Congress put a moratorium on new leases," the editorial pointed out. "Pombo's measure would not only end that moratorium, it would also use the mining law as a cover for sales and developments that have nothing to do with mining."

In an editorial headlined "Public Land Giveaway: Mining law changes mask a horrible idea," the newspaper said: "At risk would be not only pristine wilderness, but also hunting and fishing lands, suburban open space, even ski resorts."

An editorial in the Louisville, Kentucky-based Courier-Journal called Pombo's proposal "inflammatory" and one that is not worth it regardless of how much money is raised by the sales. A Denver Post editorial pointed out that Pombo's "amendments really aren't about mining; they're about real estate speculation," and it concluded that, "the House should erase them from the budget reconciliation bill."

Environmental activists that have over the past decade monitored the growing trend toward the privatization of America's public lands were not surprised by Rep. Pombo's proposals.

"The Bush administration, with Congressman Richard Pombo leading the charge, has worked tirelessly to limit the public's use of public lands through user fees and it has attempted to sell off National Parks and monuments that the congressman argues don't pay for themselves," Denise Boggs told Inter Press Service. "In addition, the Forest Service is selling off sites around the country it claims it no longer has use for or can't fund -- the latest being the Superior National Forest," said Boggs, the founder and former Executive Director of the Utah Environmental Congress in Salt Lake City, and currently the Executive Director of the Lewistown, Montana-based Conservation Congress.

"Currently, mining companies have permits to mine the minerals beneath public lands [subsurface rights] but the surface rights remain in public land ownership," Boggs pointed out. "Pombo wants to allow the mining companies to purchase these lands outright. Hard rock mining companies do not pay any royalties to the treasury on the resources it mines from public lands. If the 1872 mining law was changed to force these companies to pay royalties, the Treasury would make far more than selling off these lands."

When IPS asked Boggs about future privatization initiatives she said: "I think that privatization is moving along very quickly and the American people aren't paying attention. Apathy is rampant and it is difficult to get Americans to respond to conservation issues until it becomes a NIMBY [Not in my Backyard] issue.

"Americans love their National Parks and public lands and I don't believe they would knowingly approve of the efforts to privatize their public lands hence the stealth tactics of Pombo attaching his efforts as riders to other bills (the mining example above was attached to the budget bill).

"With the war in Iraq, the soaring federal deficit, the loss of jobs and lack of health care, the growing price of prescription drugs, fear or terrorism, etc. it is all people can do to breathe some days. But people need to realize that they must be vigilant to maintain what they value or they will lose it. The same argument could made about the US Constitution but that's another story," said Boggs.

In the mold of DeLay

Rep. Pombo, whose tenure in the House predates the 1994 Newt Gingrich led "revolution" which gave Republicans control of the House for the first time in years, "is a Republican in the [Rep. Tom] DeLay mold," Kelpie Wilson, the environmental editor of Truthout, an online news magazine, recently wrote. "Oil and gas interests keep his campaign cash barrel topped up; he pays his relatives inflated salaries from those funds; he is deeply involved in the gambling-industry / Indian-casino money machine; he took thousands of dollars from DeLay's buddy, indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff."

At the Congressman's website, the congressman points out that he was a co-founder of the San Joaquin County Citizen's Land Alliance, "a coalition of farmers and other property owners who advocate private property rights, and fight attempts by government to strip these rights away from citizens." He is also a member and former Chairman of the Congressional Western Caucus, an organization "work[ing] to form one voice on issues such as Endangered Species Act reform, water rights, private property rights and other issues affecting Congressional districts in the West."

Congressman Pombo has been given a number of awards by conservative organizations including the United States Business and Industrial Council, the National Taxpayers Union, and right wing activist Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform.

In September, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) named Pombo one of the "13 Most Corrupt Members in Congress." The accompanying essay discussed Pombo's:

According to “Pombo’s in their Pocket” a project of the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, the congressman “has taken over $199,786 in campaign contributions from developers and real estate interests...and he is also one of the largest recipients of oil and gas cash in the entire Congress, taking in" more than $85,000 in his last campaign.

OpenSecrets.org documented the "Top Industries Supporting Richard Pombo in 2004": Oil & Gas $85,693; Lobbyists $65,923; Crop Production & Basic Processing $54,200; Casinos/Gambling $51,000; Lawyers/Law Firms $43,050; Electric Utilities $40,450; Real Estate $36,750; Forestry & Forest Products $33,750; Agricultural Services/Products $31,000; Mining $24,659; Misc. Transport $20,900; and Livestock $19,181.

Thus far, in the 2006 election cycle Pombo is the top recipient of Indian Gaming contributions at $ 74,647. (Indian Gaming money have been handsomely doled out to both Republicans and Democrats. In 2002, then-Senator Tom Daschle (D-N.D.) was the top Indian Gaming recipient with almost $157,000, and in 2000, Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) was tops with $ 72,650.)

Back home in his district, Pombo is being challenged by Democrat Jerry McNerney. In a recent news release dated October 20, and posted at Yuba.net.com, the McNerney campaign linked the Congressman to a "story about how ... he ... may have violated tax laws in connection with two trips to New Zealand and Japan that cost more the $23,000," and called for a congressional investigation into his activities.

Commenting on the two expensive trips, McNerney said: "The Congressman uses his chairmanship to help other Congressmen garner donations from those who want influence with the Resources Committee. That is why Tom DeLay appointed him chairman over more senior Republicans; DeLay knew Pombo was not only corrupt but that he would help DeLay corrupt others."

The press release titled "McNerney calls for congressional investigation of Richard Pombo," charges the Congressman with receiving "campaign contributions from Indian casino interests with legislation before his committee. He used his official position to influence legislation directly benefiting campaign donors. In an event called ‘Pombo Palooza,' Abramoff offered $5,000 seats at last year's all-star baseball game to tribes that want power plants on their lands without any environmental oversight. Later the same week Pombo demanded that the House Senate Conference on the 2005 Energy Bill allow power plants without any environmental oversight on tribal lands."

In an unrelated matter, at an event in San Francisco at the San Francisco Hilton on September 29, titled "God's Ideal family: The Model for World Peace," sponsored by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church (now called the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification), an article about the event noted that the group received several letters of "commendation" including one from Rep. Pombo.

The organization boasted that it had "secured" the letters "in one week, and also in the face of the great deal of controversy and criticism over the last year after the Crown of Peace ceremony on Capitol Hill." The article went on to claim that things had changed, "and the majority of leaders have come to understand that Father is a peace king, a spiritual leader that does not seek any secular power or authority but simply wants to give the inspiration from God that allows people to build true families and true nations."

The outcome of Pombo's land grab legislation may not be known until December. Since the Senate version of the bill did not include the mining provisions, House-Senate negotiators must decide whether it will appear in the final version of the bill.