On UT DOGM AMRP’s mission statement, updated webpages, and animated gifs….

The AMRP of the DOGM of the State of Utah has a new look on their website: http://www.ogm.utah.gov/amr/ It’s an animated gif [right click on it to save it to your local harddrive] showing some of the mine openings they have reclaimed. If anyone can identify the scenes in this gif, please let us know…

On this revamped page, the AMRP declares that

The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program’s mission is to safeguard abandoned mine safety hazards while constantly and consistently exceeding the expectations of the people with whom we work.

A few comments:

1. IF the AMRP’s purpose is to safeguard the mines, why are they destroying them via backfilling?

2. If they are trying to safeguard the public from abandoned mine hazards, they should identify and rank the hazards and not just boldly declare that all abandoned mines are hazards, unless they truly believe that all abandoned mines are hazardous. If they do so believe, why the use of the word hazard at all?

Just say that the AMRP’s mission is to safeguard the public from all abandoned mines.

Since the AMRP and the DOGM regulate mining here in the State of Utah, and since 1976 Federal and State laws require reclamation after mining, pretty soon, there will be no such thing as mining history, because the Barricks and Rio Tintos of the world are required to put the land back into a pre-mining condition.

So, since every mine will eventually be abandoned, the AMRP could declare their mission to be: safeguarding the public from mining history

This last sentence of their mission statement is truly bizzare:
While constantly and consistently exceeding the expectations of the people with whom we work…

Using the phrase “the people” evokes a sense of democractic egalitarianism that is simply not present within the AMRP. It is not used the way we normally hear “the people” being used, as in “we the people.” They are simply saying they want to exceed the expectations of those with whom they work.

That’s scary, for a bureacracy to want to exceed the expectations of their suppliers and vendors and co-workers. And if they honestly want to exceed the expectations of the general public, that is even more scary.

I don’t have much expectations of an agency whose very mission is to consider my mining heritage something to backfill. Insofar as reclaiming mine features, I want them to underachieve and never exceed one’s expectations.

But, in trying not to be so negative, if I were to have an expanded vision of what the DOGM AMRP could do and how other AMRPs tackle their mission, I would expect the agency to hold themselves accountable to the people for whom they work, and not just merely try to dazzle those they work with.

1.They should involve the public in the ranking of mine hazards and not conclude or assume that all openings are dangerous. We’re willing to admit that some openings are dangerous. Can they be honest enought to recognize their past overzealousness in assuming that all 17K openings are unsafe and enviromentally unsound?

2. Can they stop hiding behind the excuse that Federal pursestrings prevent them from interpreting and signing mine openings and just find the funds to properly interepret the already pre-identified historic mining features their own consultants have documented?

3. Can they update the Mining Heritage Alliance and allow new members in to help them showcase Utah mining history?

Their idealized mission statement should be:

The Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program’s mission is to safeguard the public from truly hazardous abandoned mines; coordinate and encourage the interpretation and signage of significant historic mining features; allow the publication of mining histories from our databases and files; while delivering and performing at a level that consistently and constantly gains the respect of the people for whom we work.

IF they were to adopt this mission, I might even be talked into agreeing to say stay out [of some mines] and stay alive…