Arizona’s Congressman Raul Grijalva is best known for calling for a boycott of the businesses of his constituents in opposition to Arizona’s immigration laws. Now, he is using the federal shut down to stop mining on federal lands.
Grijalva sent a letter to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack on Oct. 3 urging the end of mining, drilling and other extractive activities on federal lands until the federal employees, who man them are called back to work.
Grijalva writes that the federal government shutdown closed the national parks, but oil and gas drilling and other extraction, and the “disparity greatly disturbs me.”
Rather than call for the government to fund the national parks, Grijalva calls for the “immediate cessation of mining, drilling and other extractive activities on our federal public lands until we end the shutdown and cease the lockout of federal employees and visitors.”
As the national economy was rebounding the people of Arizona struggled to regain any economic health as a result of Grijalva’s boycott of his own people. In Southern Arizona, which relies heavily on the tourism industry, those at the very lowest rungs of the economic ladder, saw their jobs in the hospitality sector disappear. Tucson, the heart of Southern Arizona is now the 6th poorest metropolitan area in the country.
Grijalva and his supporters have actively fought the opening of mines which would bring high paying jobs to the people of the area. However, Grijalva’s radical environmental policies don’t stop at Arizona’s borders. He has actively fought the Keystone Pipeline among other extractive activities.
The General Mining Law of May 10, 1872, is the major Federal law governing locatable minerals. This law allows citizens of the United States the opportunity to explore for, discover, and purchase certain valuable mineral deposits on those Federal lands that are open for mining claim location and patent (open to mineral entry). These mineral deposits include most metallic mineral deposits and certain nonmetallic and industrial minerals. The law sets general standards and guidelines for claiming the possessory right to a valuable mineral deposit discovered during exploration.