COLORADO
For nearly 30
years, the people of Crested Butte, Colo., have fought mining
claims on Mount Emmons, known locally as “the Red Lady” — a
beloved backcountry skiing spot and the town’s breathtaking
backdrop.
The town’s determination to save the Red Lady
heralded a shift in values in Western mining communities, from
resource extraction to recreation. As Roger Flynn, managing
attorney for the Western Mining Action Project, says, “This was the
first fight where a mining town said, ‘No, our future is different
from our past.’ ”
But a recent decision by the Bureau of
Land Management may reverse decades of efforts to protect the
mountain. On April 2, BLM director Kathleen Clarke issued patents
for nine claims to multinational mining giant Phelps Dodge
Corporation. Thanks to the 1872 Mining Law, the company snagged 155
acres at Red Lady’s summit for $875, or about $5 an acre.
“The Bush administration just gave away hundreds of millions of
dollars in public land,” says Flynn, who is representing the Town
of Crested Butte, Gunnison County and the High Country Citizens’
Alliance in a federal lawsuit challenging Clarke’s decision.
Although Phelps Dodge representative Ken Vaughn says that
the company has no immediate plans to begin mining, some locals are
worried, now that the mining company owns the land outright. “It
could be turned into a 1,300-acre (housing) development,” observes
rancher and Gunnison County Commissioner Fred Field. “It could mean
there’s a thrust again for a (molybdenum) mine. There’s impacts
either way.”
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mining law claims mountain.
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