Industrial Gold Mining
in the Mono Basin

BODIE IN WINTER

The town of Bodie once was the second largest city in California, with 5,000-10,000 people. Now it is a State Historic Park with just a couple of rangers living there year round. The reason? Gold. In the late 1800s, gold brought many people to the Mono Basin, and when it was gone, the people left. Boom and bust economies are common throughout the west, and they aren't the most stable situations in which to live. I wonder how long the tourism boom will last... at least until fossil fuels get really expensive? One of the biggest challenges facing us is the transition to a sustainable economy.

IMAGINE 5,000 PEOPLE LIVING HERE

Bodie isn't really in the Mono Basin--it is just over the divide in the Walker Lake Basin--but close enough. When Bodie is free of snow, the hillsides are scarred with pits and tailings. It is an ugly mess. Its only redeeming value is its historical character. But that historical character includes horrible working conditions and prostitution and murder, something I think we only want to watch movies about and romanticize--nothing we'd want to be involved with.

SKI THROUGH DESOLATION

The ugly mess that is Bodie was created in the late 1800s. Just imagine what today's gold mines do to the landscape. There are plenty nearby--Aurora, Lucky Boy Pass, Yerington--and they are all giant open pit cyanide heap leach operations that not only mow down mountains and dig deep holes in the earth, but leave a toxic legacy for future generations. We subsidize these operations on public land so gold companies can get rich, rich people can wear more gold jewelry, and so we can foul our rivers, soils, streams, kill wildlife, and pay to clean up these Superfund sites with taxpayer dollars. Sounds like a GREAT bargain to me... why don't we elect some representatives that will cater to this industry?

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