Davis Signs Law to Deter Gold Mining at Site Sacred to Indians

In a rebuke to Bush administration efforts to open federal lands to mining, Gov. Gray Davis signed legislation Monday aimed at blocking a proposed Imperial Valley gold mine in an area claimed by the Quechan Indian tribe as a sacred site.

Senate Bill 22, by Sen. Byron Sher (D-Stanford), would require Glamis Gold Ltd. to fill and restore the proposed open-pit mine, a process that would make the project too expensive, industry and state officials said. The legislation was an “urgency bill” that became effective with the governor’s signature.

“By signing this legislation, we’re sending a clear message to the federal government that this sacred site is more important than gold,” Davis said during a Capitol signing ceremony.

Davis also said the state Mining and Geology Board will adopt permanent regulations on Thursday that will require companies to fill and restore the massive holes left by all future open-pit metal mining projects.

Glamis, the Reno, Nev.-based subsidiary of a Canadian company, spent eight years and more than $14 million seeking approval for the proposed 1,600-acre mine on federal land about 45 miles east of El Centro, next to the Quechan Indian reservation.

The Clinton administration had rejected the project after lengthy review, but Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton overturned the ruling in 2001.

Michael Steeves, vice president of investor relations for Glamis, said he wasn’t “in a position to comment” on the legislation. Other Glamis executives didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The Quechan tribe said the mine would desecrate its sacred “Trail of Dreams,” where, according to tribal belief, the Creator and two spiritual leaders once passed and their spirits still reside. The tribe, which has about 3,000 members, said it continues to use the site for religious, cultural and educational purposes.

In December, the Davis administration moved to block the Glamis project and other open-pit gold mines by approving emergency regulations that require companies to fill and restore the massive holes left by future open-pit projects. Those regulations expire April 16, but the state Mining and Geology Board is poised to make the requirement permanent.

Those regulations “will essentially kill gold mining” in California by making site restoration too expensive, said Adam Harper, manager of the California Mining Assn. in Sacramento. The cost of meeting the new state requirements for restoring a small open-pit mine would be about $60 million, he said.

The Glamis project would create a pit up to a mile wide and 850 feet deep and leave 30-story-high piles of mine tailings, according to a legislative analysis.

Quechan Tribal President Michael Jackson praised Davis and the Legislature for what he described as taking a “brave step” to block the mine and help preserve Quechan history and culture, and he criticized Norton for “trying to destroy” the desert tribe.

“Gov. Davis kept his word,” Jackson said. “He stood by us.”