Guarding our parks

Re “Mining claims seen as threat,” Oct. 16

The threats posed to national parks in California should not be disregarded. About 10 years ago, Yellowstone National Park was threatened by the New World gold mine, which would have been built at the park’s doorstep. If not for the progressive measures taken by our federal agencies, which ended up having to fund a $65-million buyout package, the Yellowstone River and the entire park would have been exposed to pollution from myriad toxic substances.

While Yellowstone was protected, the Mining Law of 1872, which gives precedence to mining over recreation and ecological concerns, survives and continues to threaten a growing number of national parks.

It’s time for Congress to protect national parks from new mining claims once and for all.

Ron Sundergill

San Francisco

The writer is the Pacific region director for the National Parks Conservation Assn.

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Mines and mining have never been so closely scrutinized as they are today. Our state has the strictest rules in the country to protect the environment from mining. The group that The Times cites has a political agenda that the article neglects to point out; and the group’s public lands analyst, who doesn’t even live in California, is wrong when he states a handful of mining claims will create a multimillion-dollar Superfund site.

With the laws California has in place and the scrutiny from numerous agencies, it is impossible for any mines or mining claims to pollute as they were allowed to in the past.

David Dills

Van Nuys