[Skamania] 🪨 The 1872 Rule Hiding Under Skamania's Mining Fights

Skamania County has two mining fights going at once. A Canadian company wants to drill toward an open-pit copper mine near Mount St. Helens, and a gravel quarry on the west end could put five hundred truck trips a day onto Highway 14. But underneath the copper fight sits a law from 1872 that almost nobody mentions, and it decides who gets paid. This episode covers recent discussions at the Skamania County Board of Commissioners, Skamania County Community Development, and the long history they're inheriting.In This Episode:Why hardrock minerals on federal land pay no royalty, to anyoneThe Nevada senator who wrote the law, and why it never expiredWhat happened the last time this promise met a place like oursCoal, oil and gas pay. Copper doesn't. Why the difference matters to the county budgetButte, Montana and the bill that outlasted the boomWhat three Montana councils actually won from a mining company, and what Skamania could ask forWhich of these two fights Skamania can actually shape, and the July 30 deadline to do itResources & Links:Read the full written Dispatch: https://skamaniadispatch.comComment on the Storedahl Quarry draft EIS (due July 30): https://www.skamaniacounty.org/departments-offices/community-development/storedahl-quarryThe Stillwater Good Neighbor Agreement (Northern Plains Resource Council): https://northernplains.org/good-neighbor-agreement/Montana's Hard Rock Mining Impact Board, on making mines pay local government costs: https://comdev.mt.gov/Programs-and-Boards/Hard-Rock-Mining-Impact-Board/Hard-Rock-Impact-Plan-InformationPrior coverage, "A Mine, a Closed School, and a County Locked in a Box": https://skamania-dispatch.ghost.io/a-mine-a-closed-school-and-a-county-locked-in-a-box-skaman/The law itself, 30 U.S.C. §22 (Cornell Legal Information Institute): https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/30/22GAO on hardrock royalties: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-08-849rInterior's 2025 Critical Minerals List: https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-releases-final-2025-list-critical-mineralsNational Archives, Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868: https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/1868.htmlEPA, Silver Bow Creek / Butte Area Superfund site: https://www.epa.gov/butte/backgroundFailed reforms to outdated hardrock mining law https://www.hcn.org/articles/south-mining-2-democrats-kill-chances-of-reforming-the-outdated-hardrock-mining-law/Stay Connected with the GorgeThe Skamania Dispatch and The Klickitattler are community-led projects of OpenGorge.org.To stay updated on local news, governance, and community events across the region, you can sign up for both newsletters at SkamaniaDispatch.com. For real-time updates and to join the conversation, follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/OpenGorge.