[meteorite-list] Barringer Meteor $$$$

From: Steve Schoner <steve_schoner_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:25:37 2004
Message-ID: <20030508182235.34568.qmail_at_web12707.mail.yahoo.com>

--- MARK BOSTICK <thebigcollector_at_msn.com> wrote:
> The always helpful Steve schoner wrote:
>
> My opinion...
>
> Meteor Crater should be owned by the people of the
> United States, and managed by the National Park
> Service. The mining claim is invalid; there is no
> mineable meteorite resource in or under the southern
> rim, and the only thing being mined are the pockets
> of
> those now paying to see it.
>
>
> The opinion of many, including myself would agree
> with that. As I wrote in my latest Collectors
> Corner article their is no way I would have paid the
> $14.00 (per a person) I did a couple months ago had
> I not traveled all that way just to see it. By
> comparison, a whole family can visit the grand
> canyon for $20.00 for a car load. It seems to me
> that upkeep at the Grand Canyon would cost much more
> then upkeep at Meteor Crater. I think that the
> history of the crater given by the currant owners is
> totally bias and in very ill towards a man many of
> us hold with the greatest esteem (Nininger).
> Further by definition of national law of protecting
> sites of historic or scientific interest, I do not
> understand why the Barringer family has been allowed
> to keep the crater. To say that the land feature
> does not warrant national protection is wrong.
> Since no meteorites have ever been mined and claimed
> by the Barringer family, it seems to me their claim
> is not valid. It is not hard to understand why
> Nininger was bitter about the way he was treated by
> many including the Barringers. How nice it would
> have been to visit the crater, and this nice
> meteorite museum that could have been......and yet
> one man wanted nothing more then to donate his
> lifetime of work for just such a thing (Nininger).
>
>
> Sorry for the short rant and rave....
>
> Mark Bostick
> www.MeteoriteArticles.com
>


Mark and all,

The situation is outrageous when you really look at
it.

The finders of the Old Woman Mts. Meteorite, found in
the Mojhave desert tried to put a mining claim on the
section from which it was found, and the U.S.
Government agencies got involved and sued them to gain
possession of it.

The government won, because in my opinion the lawyer
that represented the finders of that mass did not
research mining laws based on the 1872 Patented Claim
Act. This Act allowed for persons to claim federal
land if they thought that there was a minable resource
on the land in question. Once the lease was granted
the claimant could do pretty much what they wanted.
Pump cyanide chemicals in ores to remove gold, then
dump this into nearby streams. (There are some very
serious problems with stream runoff here in Arizona
because of this).

The upside to the 1872 mining act was that it gave the
economy of that day the funds to expand into the west.
 It made our country what it is now, and "civilized"
the region.

But the 1872 mining act has given without any strings
attached, to the descendants of the initial claims
unequivocal rights of ownership. Most of the claims
are not much worthy of "National Landmark" or
"National Park-Monument Status," including the claim
filed by the finders of the Old Woman Mts. Meteorite.
The fact that it was a legit claim filed under that
act, it was denied and this was in the face of the
fact that Meteor Crater's claims are based on the
presence of a meteorite (a minable resource).

Meteor Crater is not a meteorite mine, never proved to
be such, and is undoubtedly a national treasure... but
currently owned by private individuals in a perpetual
company that can pretty much do whatever they want
with it.

I have for years seen letters to the papers here in
Arizona about this and one recently asked, "Why is
this crater not owned by the Government and preserved
under the National Park Service? It was a letter in
the Arizona Republic a few years ago, and I think it
appeared here in Flagstaff in the AZ Daily Sun. It
raised an interesting question, and the only way for
one to answer it was to question the validity of the
1872 Mining Act in today's environment. This "act"
needs to be reviewed, and that will take another "Act"
of Congress.

Sites, Historic and Natural Landmarks, that are
currently under private leases need to be examined,
and if necessary be allowed to return to the
Government, should the Government decide that it is in
the Public interests to do so.

Steve Schoner
http://www.geocities.com/meteorite_identification
http://www.geocities.com/american_meteorite_survey






__________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
The New Yahoo! Search - Faster. Easier. Bingo.
http://search.yahoo.com
Received on Thu 08 May 2003 02:22:35 PM PDT