Good idea or bad idea?

[Gold Rover]

A few days ago I took a homemade sluice to our town park on the Colorado River to give it a test. I was not even thinking about finding any gold as it not generally considered a good area. I just wanted to see if the fluid bed was working. It turns out that I found a bit of gold. Not a lot, but color in every clean out. It is a large gravel deposit near a boat pullout on the inside of a bend in the river.

My town is always looking for the potential for economic development, as we are a bedroom community of sorts to the larger towns down the road. I'm wondering if I should present the idea of allowing and promoting public prospecting on the gravel bar. I realize rules would be needed, but it might be a nice little amenity to the locals and tourists in the area.

I'd be interested to hear you're ideas on whether this would be a good idea or not. There are a lot of smart folks here who know way more than me when it comes to mining and prospecting, who know the laws and regs, as well as how to get the gold. If you are one of those folks who can see a reason why or why not this could work and would be kind enough to take the time to give some input, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

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[Tonto]

One of the hurdles to your idea is convincing the federal authorities that there would be no substantial disturbance of the river bed. You and I both know that small scale sluicing would not do that. The local government doesn't want to absorb any of the costs, so their public works and police personnel might be impacted. If a private entity wanted to open a concession, then a business plan would need to be put together that would take into consideration parking impacts, local traffic impacts, etc. Then there are the permits necessary from the US Fish and Wild Life service which has spent millions to facilitate the bony tail chub and pike minnow protection in that stretch of the river. Those guys are the ones who put a stop to the construction of the white water park in a small town about 8 years ago. It's a great idea, but you will have to convince the local politicians that it is a marketable idea, with little impact on its provision of services.

 

[Gold Rover]

One of the hurdles to your idea is convincing the federal authorities that there would be no substantial disturbance of the river bed. You and I both know that small scale sluicing would not do that. The local government doesn't want to absorb any of the costs, so their public works and police personnel might be impacted. If a private entity wanted to open a concession, then a business plan would need to be put together that would take into consideration parking impacts, local traffic impacts, etc. Then there are the permits necessary from the US Fish and Wild Life service which has spent millions to facilitate the bony tail chub and pike minnow protection in that stretch of the river. Those guys are the ones who put a stop to the construction of the white water park in a small town about 8 years ago. It's a great idea, but you will have to convince the local politicians that it is a marketable idea, with little impact on its provision of services.

Thanks for your input, Tonto. The park already has ample parking and toilet facilities, so that's a plus. The white water park in Glenwood Springs is now reality, and a success, so that hurdle has been overcome. If I do end up presenting this to the town council, I'll do some research into other towns and cities that do allow public panning on city owned land.

If allowed, it would be a unique feature to the town.

 

[roadrunner]

I would not say a thing and keep it to myself.
I would use smaller equipment so I would not be seen except that it would look like I was fishing or some thing.
Put poles in the water,ect.

 

[Gold Rover]

I would not say a thing and keep it to myself.
I would use smaller equipment so I would not be seen except that it would look like I was fishing or some thing.
Put poles in the water,ect.

I'm afraid that's not really possible. It is a well used park with kids and dogs and rafters coming and going all day, all summer. Plus, its a bad spot to fish. My neighbors would think my pioneer skills are weak.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I have a close friend that was successful getting a public prospecting park set up on Clear creek in west metro Denver. I will PM you for contact info as you have a good idea there and he can point you toward success!

 

[roadrunner]

That's what ya want.People to think you do not know what your doing.
But, if the city or town thinks they can make some money,watch how fast the area gets shut down for reclamation, or to upgrade, ect, and it will be closed down until further notice.
Besides, how long of stretch is the area. How many people can be in that spot,or area.
If it can hold say 100 people,500 will show up.
But good luck to you
what ever you decide and happens.

 

[Pointman]

Sounds like any other business plan and you would have to convince the folks with some clout that it would benefit the town in some way and not produce any environmental hardship on the natural environment or create problems down the road for the town (like it was said, clean-up). I would have factors already sorted out on how trash, etc., would be mitigated. Seems like you would need to get some folks in your corner first to even warrant the Federal government would even hear your story. I would have the town in my corner first thing.

 

[Bejay]

Have you ever been to a town meeting? Or a City Council Meeting? Regarding anything? There are always those who are in opposition. You might see if you could do some "how to find gold" programs for civic groups such as Rotary or Kiwanis. If you can get the community tuned in to "how to find gold" you might be able to sell the idea: with enough community support. But if you simply go to the city chances are there will be an immediate list of reasons why you can't.

Bejay

 

[KevinInColorado]

Have you ever been to a town meeting? Or a City Council Meeting? Regarding anything? There are always those who are in opposition. You might see if you could do some "how to find gold" programs for civic groups such as Rotary or Kiwanis. If you can get the community tuned in to "how to find gold" you might be able to sell the idea: with enough community support. But if you simply go to the city chances are there will be an immediate list of reasons why you can't. Bejay

All true and all can be transcended on the way to success. We did this successfully here in metro Denver and per my PM, my friend Don and I can coach you thru it as part of our volunteer work with Gold Unlimited.

 

[Gold Rover]

Thanks to everyone for the responses. This is just what I was looking for. I want to think this through before taking any actions and your advice really helps while it's bouncing around in my brain.

Have you ever been to a town meeting? Or a City Council Meeting? Regarding anything? There are always those who are in opposition. You might see if you could do some "how to find gold" programs for civic groups such as Rotary or Kiwanis. If you can get the community tuned in to "how to find gold" you might be able to sell the idea: with enough community support. But if you simply go to the city chances are there will be an immediate list of reasons why you can't.

Bejay

I know everybody on the council and most on the planning an zoning commission and have attended several of the meetings. I have a gold panning class in the works at the town library. I was going to use purchased pay dirt for the class, but now I may just go and classify some of the material the city trucked away when clearing out the boat ramp area.


roadrunner, I too share some of your concerns, so I want to go slowly on this one. It's a gravel bar about 50 yards long and 10 to 20 yards wide, depending in the water level. So there is room but it's not huge. Toilets, garbage cans and parking are already in place.