Some of the best billification in Pierre is coming from rookie Representative Nicole Uhre-Balk (D-32/Rapid City). With House Bill 1273, Rep. Uhre-Balk proposes that South Dakota mining laws should encompass more extractive activities and better protect the Black Hills.
Among other provisions, HB 1273 amends the definition of “mineral”. The current definition exempts “water, oil, gas, sand, gravel, or rock to be crushed and used in construction, pegmatite minerals, or limestone, sand, gypsum, shale, or iron ore used in the process of making cement”. HB 1273 strikes everything after “gas”. That would subject operations like the limestone mine that has caused a dust-up in Piedmont to stricter regulations, like a $50,000 application fee for large-scale (i.e., bigger than ten acres) mines and annual reports on amounts of mineral extracted, water used, land disturbed, and land reclaimed.
That definition change isn’t quite as succinct as Rep. Uhre-Balk’s one-word amendment to flip the education funding adjustment, but that definition change does show Rep. Uhre-Balk’s keen eye for legislative detail.
HB 1273 also expands the legal definition of the Black Hills in our mined land reclamation statutes. Current law defines the Black Hills as “Lawrence County south of Interstate Highway 90, Meade County west and south of Interstate Highway 90, and Pennington and Custer Counties west of South Dakota Highway 79.” HB 1273 adds “Fall River County north of United States Highway 18 from the Wyoming border to Edgemont, then north of the Cheyenne River from Edgemont to state Highway 79”. That change fits with common conception of the Paha Sapa. It would also emphasize that the proposed uranium mining projects in Fall River County should fall under the land reclamation statutes the Legislature has enacted to protect the Black Hills.
Rep. Uhre-Balk is a Democrat, and HB 1270 proposes costs for big corporate interests, so the Legislature will kill HB 1273 quickly. But keep an eye on District 32’s Democratic Representative for more sharp Legislative language that translates into good policy ideas.
I was shocked reading about the overwhelming response to save the Pactola Lake area. That there are people still living in the Black Hills who care enough to defend some of it from destruction might be a watershed moment in South Dakota politics.
See why the first lines of political defense are county commissions and why environmental lawyers are essential to democracy? The US Environmental Protection Agency gets involved when the process breaks down. The US Fish and Wildlife Service enforces critical habitat and Democrats care more about this stuff than the redstaters do. I’m a single-issue voter. Earth first. See how simple?
This is a weak spot in the Republican agenda and if enough people believe preservation is a bankable position the South Dakota Democratic Party needs to exploit it by fielding candidates who can convince voters to reject politicians like John Thune, Mike Rounds, Dusty Johnson and Marty Jackley who work for the grazing, mining and logging profiteers at the expense of public lands.
The law bill numbered 1273 is bad. It is very bad. It will inhibit growth and construction and subject gravel and dirt to the same scrutiny as gold. Plus we need more lithium.
Ms. Uhre-Balk seems a genius compared to her colleagues. It would be nice if more like her would run for office and be elected of course.
If there is any good news about this there are Indigenous Nations who can afford to buy much of the land in the public domain if it indeed goes up for sale. After a 23-year effort and $56 million about 47,000 acres in the Klamath Basin have been returned to the Yurok Tribe after studies showed how conservation goals are more effectively met when Indigenous peoples manage their own territories.
There is at least a $billion in the fund for the Black Hills Claim just for instance so maybe tribes can buy some of their own land from the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management in occupied South Dakota.