In the last seven years, mining companies, many of them foreign firms, have filed claims to the rights to copper, gold, uranium and other metals on federal land around Mt. Rushmore, Joshua Tree National Park and other famous refuges at an increased rate because of rising global prices, according to a 2011 report by the Pew Environment Group.
Critics say an outmoded 1872 law is driving the increase in claims in such sensitive places. The law allows corporations to stake out rights to federal lands for mining without a competitive bid and to extract resources without paying royalties.
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