The Nation - News from Dec. 28, 1988

The Interior Department has proposed rules that environmentalists say could open protected federal lands including national parks to coal mining. The proposal, published in Tuesday’s Federal Register, would allow the laws of individual states to determine who has the right to mine coal from national parks, wildlife refuges, wilderness areas and other protected federal lands, according to a story in today’s editions of The New York Times. Congress prohibited coal mining on parklands and other protected federal holdings in 1977 but made an exception for holders of mining claims that were valid at the time. Secretary of the Interior Donald P. Hodel has said he would not allow mining in national parks, but under the proposed rules, the government would have to buy back mining claims to protect all public land from mining. Environmentalists say buying back the mining claims could cost millions of dollars.