VIEWPOINT | Biden’s backdoor land grab deserves congressional reversal

Guest column by Mark Miller, Kristi Noem’s former chief of staff

In the last few days of 2024, the Biden administration quietly released Public Land Order 7956 — an administrative maneuver that halted mineral development across more than 20,000 acres in western South Dakota. The move immediately blocked F3 Gold’s mineral exploration plans, even though the company had secured a lawful permit from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in good faith to obtain that permit. What the Biden right hand gave, the left hand took away.

F3 Gold, a mineral exploration company based in Minneapolis, had complied with the law and followed the government’s rules to obtain a permit to explore for gold in the region only to have the rug pulled out from under them by an executive action that never went before Congress. This isn’t just bad policy; it’s illegal.

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