ABSTRACT

It should be clear by now that serious problems in the administration of the Mining Law began to emerge soon after enactment, and have multiplied since. In response, there have been a multitude of calls for its reform and modification. Numerous commissions, committees, and other august bodies have been constituted over the past century or more to report on various aspects of public land management and, more specifically, on federal minerals, materials, and resource policy. Almost without exception, those examining the Mining Law have recommended that it be modified substantially or simply done away with. The administrative agencies and courts that have had to deal continually with the inadequacies of the Law have often made the same plea. For example, a court in 1884, shrinking from what it called the "herculean task" of making sense of the Mining Law, warned that "the sooner amendments are made ... the better it will be for the mining industry." Ninety-two years later another court repeated the refrain: "Modern mining practice seems to require amendment of the act of 1872." 1