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The South Dakota House is advancing a proposal that designates lithium as a precious metal, like silver and gold.
The move comes as interest in mining in the Black Hills is increasing.
As South Dakota Public Broadcasting’s Lee Strubinger reports, a Native state lawmaker opposes the bill, wanting protection of the Black Hills.
Hard rock lithium is contained in crystals that form in pegmatite rock.
To mine pegmatites, an operator must obtain a permit, similar for those mining sand or gravel.
Companies from around the world have expressed interest in mining the Black Hills for lithium.
State Rep. Kirk Chaffee (R-SD) lives near Sturgis in the northern Black Hills.
He says the move subject lithium to a state severance tax of 10% of net profits.
“By calling it ‘precious metals’, there’s actually provisions in the current statute that allows that. It’s taxed on the net profit of lithium. So, wherever it is in that stage of production, it’s taxed on that dollar amount.”
Rep. Chaffee brought a bill last year to tax lithium. It failed in the Senate.
He hopes paring lithium with two other designated precious metals will convince the Republican-controlled Senate.
A large majority of House lawmakers voted in favor of the idea. One lawmaker who voted against the proposal worries it incentivizes mining the Black Hills.
“I don’t believe we should be mining in the Black Hills, period.”
State Rep. Peri Pourier (Oglala Lakota/D-SD) worries about how mining will affect water quality in the Black Hills.
“Preserving it’s natural, original state is the most important thing we can do for the people of South Dakota, the Oceti Sakowin, and for future generations coming up together.”
The state Department of Revenue opposed the bill last session.
This year they did not support or oppose the legislation.
The bill now heads to the Senate.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) released five gray wolves onto public land in Grand County, Colorado on Monday, Dec. 18, 2023. (Courtesy Colorado Parks And Wildlife)
As many as 15 gray wolves could be reintroduced to Colorado’s Western Slope next winter, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).
It’s a move that concerns the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe in southwest Colorado.
CPW reached an agreement with the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation to collect the wolves on the tribes’ land in eastern Washington.
As KSJD’s Chris Clements reports, a group has already been released.
Ten wolves from Oregon were released in Colorado last month, the first batch under the state’s reintroduction plan.
However, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe says they were never properly consulted about the decision to reintroduce wolves to the state or the potential impacts it could have on the sovereign nation.
Manuel Heart is chairman of the tribe and says he’s worried about the depredation of already-dwindling herds of cattle and horses.
Heart says tribal members routinely bring their herds to the tribe’s land in Gunnison County, like the 20,000-acre Pinecrest Ranch, which is near to where the next batch of wolves is likely to be released.
“The state of Colorado failed to notify both the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian tribes. So when they went through that initiative of the public voting on that, from the state of Colorado citizens, then we were not included in that process.”
The Colorado plan calls for releasing 30 to 50 wolves on the Western Slope in the next three to five years.
Lily Gladstone has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role in “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Gladstone made history earlier this month, becoming the first Indigenous best actress Golden Globe winner.
She’s being recognized for her role as Mollie Burkhart in the film, which tells the story of the murder of Osage people in Oklahoma during the 1920s for oil money.
The Oscar nominations were announced Tuesday.
The ceremony will be held in March.
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