DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK, Calif. — It's so quiet out here you can almost hear the shadows tugging violet twilight over the desert dunes.
This is national parkland, a remote wedge of hushed mountains and sandy slopes, a place so cherished for its serenity that Congress has granted it the highest possible degree of protection by declaring it a wilderness area.
It's also the site of the Rainbow Talc Mine.
The mine is inactive now. But owners Carol and Edward Baumunk want to rev it up again. They own the rights to millions of tons of talc burrowed inside the sheltering mountains--talc in demand by manufacturers of ceramics and paint, paper and fine china.
The Baumunks want to begin extracting their talc. They have the legal right to do so, but the National Park Service has a legal duty to protect the wilderness where the mine so doggedly squats.
And so, a clash. And one with repercussions far beyond this lonely slice of San Bernardino County.
If the Baumunks win federal approval for their venture, the Rainbow would be the first mine ever permitted to operate in a national park wilderness area. The prospect has attracted attention from environmentalists and property rights activists nationwide.
"We've got piles of comments," said Richard Martin, superintendent of Death Valley National Park. "Not quite rooms full, but closets full."
Martin and his staff are reviewing those comments now. They will then decide among four options: permit the mine to open under specified conditions, deny it a permit, commission a detailed environmental impact report or seek federal money to buy out the Baumunks' claim.
Acquiring the mine would probably prove the most popular option. The Baumunks are willing to sell. The park service is eager to buy. The problem, as always, is coming up with the money.
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With no federal funds or private donations in view, neither side sees hope for a buyout any time soon. So the Baumunks are pushing to open the mine, impatient to start earning royalties from a claim they've held since the 1950s with their partner, Archie Jackson.
"We're not spring chickens," said Edward Baumunk, 79.
Several politicians from the counties of San Bernardino and neighboring Inyo support the Baumunks' plan. They view the talc mine as a potential source of good jobs--and plump tax revenue--in a region with little economic oomph. Given the mine's potential, Inyo County Supervisor Michael Dorame said, "I don't know how we could possibly justify standing still on the situation."
