Game Commissioners this week approved a deep mining support lease with the Amfire Mining Company of Latrobe that will help buffer the national memorial to those Americans who perished on Flight 93 near Shanksville on September 11, 2001, and benefit wildlife.

The lease accommodates a request from Amfire Mining to use 8.6 acres of existing roads on State Game Lands 79 in Buffington Township, Indiana County, to haul coal and support its Gilhouser Run deep mine complex. No mining will occur on SGL 79.

In exchange for this 10-year lease, Amfire will pay the Game Commission a wheelage rate based on the market value of each ton of coal mined or 25 cents per ton - whichever is greater - for each ton of coal mined and hauled from the complex over SGL 79.

Amfire has agreed to provide the Game Commission two advanced royalty payments - $60,000 each - as part of the lease. The first payment is due when the lease is executed; the second, within one year of the lease's execution.

The $120,000 will be used by the Game Commission to acquire about 300 acres of new State Game Lands located immediately north of the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County, as well as other properties that are acceptable to the agency in the immediate future.

The purchase of this and other area properties is part of an ongoing cooperative effort involving the Game Commission, The Conservation Fund and the National Park Service, including its partners the Flight 93 Advisory Committee, Flight 93 Memorial Task Force and the Families of Flight 93 Inc.

Four years ago, Congress passed the Flight 93 Memorial Act, which called for the creation of a new national park to honor the courageous members of Flight 93 who thwarted a terrorist threat to attack Washington, D.C., with a hijacked commercial aircraft.

"The new State Game Lands created by this land acquisition will be designated SGL 93 in honor of Flight 93's passengers and crew," explained agency Executive Director Carl G. Roe. "The Game Commission is proud to have a role in this important national project and to help commemorate the bravery and ultimate sacrifice made by those who comprised Flight 93. God bless their souls and families, and may their actions inspire generations of Americans."

All royalty payments in excess of the initial advanced payments will be made monthly and deposited into the agency's Game Fund. Based on current market conditions and coal recovery projections, the lease has the potential total value of $725,000 to the Game Commission. The agency also will receive double-stumpage payment for any timber impacted by Amfire activities.

Mining support activities will be regulated by the state's mining regulations and the agency's standard coal mining lease agreement. Amfire also will post a $10,000 performance bond. The lease also will include the agency's standard wildlife and environmental protection measures.

NewsClip: Mining Lease to Pay for Buffer Zone Around Flight 93 Memorial

6/9/2006