Unfortunately, the same cannot be said about hard-rock mining.
Mining operations that once used pans and pick axes to extract precious metals now rely on toxic chemical processing, large-scale dynamite blasting and massive earth-moving machines. The resulting environmental footprint associated with hard-rock mining has grown enormously over the last century. Thousands of acres of once-pristine public lands are now scarred, watersheds are polluted and towers of toxic mine tailings cost billions of dollars to clean up.
The reason is simple. Unlike the outdoor community's evolving guidelines, the mining industry's standards have not been updated since President Ulysses S. Grant signed the 1872 Mining Law more than 135 years ago.
This antiquated statute recognizes mining as the highest and best use of public lands. Perhaps that made sense when the telegraph was the most advanced form of communication and when most Western states were still territories, but much has changed since the Grant administration.
From the creation of the National Park Service, Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service, to the passage of the Wilderness Act and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, it is evident that conservation and stewardship of public lands and waters has evolved into a fundamental American value. The worth of our public lands extends far beyond mineral extraction; it must be balanced with other interests, such as habitat preservation and clean air and water, as well as outdoor recreation.
Today the West is settled and its economy has evolved from one relying on resource extraction to a robust economy thriving on recreation and tourism. Our landscape facilitates tourism focusing on hunting, fishing, camping and other human-powered outdoor pursuits such as climbing, hiking, mountain biking, paddling, snowshoeing and backcountry skiing.
An analysis by the Outdoor Industry Association documents that the national economy benefits from active outdoor recreation to the tune of $730 billion annually. For the Intermountain West, recreation contributes more than $61 billion, 617,000 jobs and nearly $9 billion in federal and state taxes. Many communities throughout the West thrive on recreation revenue and would object to the special consideration given to mining as the best use of their public lands.
The 1872 Mining Law allows mining companies - including those wholly owned by foreign corporations - to stake claims on public lands that sometimes even impact historic sites, national parks, wild and scenic rivers, wilderness areas and American Indian cultural sites. The law also permits claimholders to buy public land outright for no more than $5 per acre, less than the entrance fee to most national parks.
Please don't get the wrong idea, we are not advocating for the complete halting of metal mining operations in the United States. In fact, a lot of outdoor equipment - ski poles, carabineers, mountain-bike frames and crampons - use stronger and lighter-weight metals to enhance performance.
Rather, mining companies should play by the same rules as other public land users. They should conduct their operations more responsibly by staying out of pristine special places, restoring mined lands and adjacent waterways to pre-mining conditions and paying the appropriate royalties for the metals extracted from public land.
Fortunately, Congress can fix the outdated provisions in this law by passing the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2007. Introduced by Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., this legislation would finally bring financial sense and environmental responsibility to hard-rock mining. Desiring responsible production of the metals it uses, even the jeweler Tiffany & Co. has endorsed the bill.
The grandeur of American public lands and waters is a fundamental part of who we are as a people. Our currency honors the country's founding fathers, but some of it also honors our land. Reach into your pocket and look at Colorado's state quarter - what you will find is an image of the Rockies, not a prospector with a pick ax.
The sooner Congress passes this key legislation, the better off the outdoor community and industry, not to mention the American taxpayer and the environment, will be.
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* PETER METCALF is co-founder and CEO of Black Diamond Equipment in Salt Lake City and vice chair of the Outdoor Industry Association board. Readers may write to him at 2084 E. 3900 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84124, or by e-mail at peter@bdel.com.
* MIKE VAN ABEL is the executive director of the International Mountain Bicycling Association and a founding member of Outdoor Alliance. Readers may write to him at IMBA, P.O. Box 7578, Boulder, CO 80306, or by e-mail at mike@imba.com.
