Industrial Pumice Mining
in the Mono Basin

PUMICE MINE AND JEFFREY PINE FOREST

This is it, where the U.S. Pumice Company gets its material on leased National Forest land (although they are trying to patent this claim--hope they never build condos). They've been operating this pumice mine since the 1950s or so--and it seems like a not too unreasonable size for 50 years of mining. Considering the recently bare volcanic slopes and the hopefully not-rapidly-expanding nature of the operation, this is one case where mining could almost be described as sustainable--at its present rate compared with a human lifetime. But still, there are impacts from having a huge denuded industrial complex on our public lands. And hopefully it won't expand.

YES, THIS IS THE PRICE WE PAY FOR STONEWASHED JEANS

It isn't included in the real price that you pay. It is the environmental price that almost everything carries--hidden to the consumer, in most cases. I'm sure the rent the U.S. Forest Service charges is very cheap, if any, and the royalties charged probably aren't much either. Any mitigation for environmental damage is probably nonexistent. This keeps the price low, and makes you buy more stonewashed jeans and BBQ cleaning stones. If the full environmental, social, and economic costs were charged, you'd probably buy less stonewashed jeans... a good thing, since that encourages the development of less damaging alternatives (don't even think about acid-washed jeans) and slower, more sustainable non-renewable resource depletion.

PUMICE PROCESSING PLANT AND MONO LAKE

The Pumice Plant can be seen on the right. It employs about 10% of the town of Lee Vining, seen on the left. This is important, economically, and that is why the operation shouldn't expand (I am not aware of any plans for expansion, although I have heard they've been pretty busy lately). The hard lesson about expanding a non-renewable resource extractive industry was learned by Pacific Lumber on the north coast (Late successional stage redwood is non-renewable at the rate they were logging it and from the perspective of our lifetimes). 

The U.S. Pumice Company has claims around Glass Mountain. I would sincerely hope that they are holding these only to prevent competition--I would hate to see a pumice mine developed there. Glass Mountain is so remote and beautiful, it would be a horrible fate for it. Hopefully that area will be designated wilderness and the mining claims can then be abandoned.

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