Looking back through the pages of The Alaska Miner T he Alaska Miner, Journal of the Alaska 8TYP]^ ,^^ZNTL_TZY [`MWT^SPO T_^ ʭ]^_ T^ - sue September 1, 1973. While it has only
been around for a little more than half of AMA’s 80 years, the pages of our news magazine provide some striking insight to how much has changed, and how much has not, in Alaska mining. Here are a few of our favorite stories: First issue Alaska Miner :YT_^ʭ]^_NZaP]TY>P[_PXMP] $" ?SP,WL^ - ka Miner announced the U.S. Senate passage of a national land use policy under the Department of Interior, to provide for subsurface resources as well as surface rights. And AMA president Robert J. Mc- Grane proposed a sweeping reorganization of AMA membership categories. ?SL_ʭ]^_T^^`P[]Z`OWdLYYZ`YNPO_SL__SP8TY - er is free to AMA members, available for $10 a year to non-members. Regulations and Elephants An editorial in the January 1975 issue headlined “Regulations and Elephants” likened the confu- sion of agencies regulating Alaska mining as akin to the legendary blind men of India describing an elephant, depending on whether they were touching trunk, leg or side. “…in this issue on placer reg- ulations indicates that the Federal Environmental Protection Agency will examine waste-water dis- charge, State Fish and Game will worry about the PʬPN_^ZYbTWOWTQPLYO>_L_P/P[L]_XPY_ZQ0YaT - ronmental Conservation just wants to watch.” “As in any regulation process, the real questions aren’t asked, and no one is looking for the answers.” Governor withdraws mining tax increase In June 1975, The Miner proudly reported AMA’s ^`NNP^^Q`WPʬZ]__ZRP_2Za5Ld3LXXZYO_ZbT_S - draw his proposal to dramatically raise taxes on Alaska mining. “I want to assure you that it is not the intention of this Administration to destroy or LOaP]^PWd LʬPN_ _SP XTYTYR TYO`^_]d :`] [`][Z^P here is to assure that Alaska gets a fair share of the value of its nonrenewable resources as and when they are produced,” Hammond wrote in the Miner.
The Miner and Water Quality That headlined an editorial in July 1975’s Miner warning that the Water Quality Act of 1972 would change everything for Alaska miners. “In past years, water quality was considered unimportant. This [TN_`]P SL^ YZb NSLYRPO >TRYTʭNLY_ ]PR`WL_TZY^ have been placed on heavy industry. Major mining companies…are having to reevaluate the economics of some of their operations due to excessive pollu- tion systems now required.” Don and Ted … The Early Years The November 1975 issue highlighted Rep. Don Young’s opposition to a proposal in the House to in- clude 32 million acres of Alaska land in the National Park System. And Sen. Ted Stevens, speaking to the Ameri- can Mining Congress in San Francisco, was quoted as warning that section D-2 of the Alaska Native .WLTX^>P__WPXPY_,N_NZ`WONWZ^PZʬSLWQZQ,WL^ - VLɪ^NZLWMPL]TYRWLYOɭ8LYd^TRYTʭNLY_,WL^VLY mineral area will be islands surrounded by a sea of parks and wildlife refuges.”
The Alaska Miner
July 2019
14
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