Taking more land & what you can do about it

[jog]

Listen for the part about mining....


http://stewardsofthesequoia.org/Video/PCT/PCT-LandGrab.html?utm_content=donfife%40dslextreme.com&utm_source=VerticalResponse&utm_medium=Email&utm_term=&utm_campaign=URGENT-STOP%20the%20PCT%20Land%20Grabcontent

 

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[goldenIrishman]

...And yet ANOTHER group of "Do-Gooders" trying to force THEIR agenda down the public throat! As this "plan" would impact many others besides miners, I can see a big fight brewing that PCT is bound to loose.

While I'm all for the trail and hiked just about every inch of it in the early 70s, what these people want to do is nothing short of pure stupidity. There used to be sections of the trail that you wouldn't see any kind of crossing other than a rabbit/game trail for 20-30 miles. I'm sure that has changed since I did the trail but come on folks... Let's not go crazy here!

Trying to keep this or any trail to foot and horse traffic and not allow mining or other activities along it is stupid. Much of the PCT runs through PUBLIC LANDS and to try to and make it so that only a select few would even be interested in using it smells of yet another agenda.

The area I was looking at to claim here in Arizona has a section of the Arizona Trail running through the middle of it. We NEVER had any problems with the hikers complaining about our mining activities and often they would stop to chat and learn what we were doing. We met many great people that were using the trail and were able to teach them something about small scale mining in the process. We also NEVER had ANY Forest Service Ranger stop at our claim for any reason. Saw plenty of them driving by but they didn't stop once.

Another thing that comes to mind here.... If any of those roads that are shown on a topo map that is dated before 1976, those roads can not be closed BY LAW as they are considered as public thoroughfares. It takes a full Environmental Impact Study to the tune of $500,000 which has to come from the Forest Service/BLMs funds to close one of these roads. A simple Environmental ASSESSMENT won't do it by law. The Forest Service here and in California tried to get away with the E.A because it was less expensive but when confronted they had no choice but to give in to re-opening the roads.

 

[Hoser John]

over and over and over and over at a ever increasing pace the race is on to close all the open space. It's a new age of sic sic people,so they want to close paradise and watch it from a parking lot them all-John

 

[danec71]

I dont get these people or anybody that believes them.people today are wanting to shut down or take away are privlages or rights to everything these days and the sad part is everyone is letting them.dont people understand that everytime they give up something or give in they will never get it back.someday we are going to wake up and we will have to report to some government agency that we are going to the store to buy eggs.wether its guns ,mining or wilderness areas or whatever people believe the hype and freely give up these rights or things we own thinking its the best and the government will take care of us and its the best thing for everyone.its sad that most people dont have a clue.today.maybe they should devide this country in half and put people on one side that cant think for themselves or dont care about there freedom and all the normals on the other or I mean americans.

 

[rodoconnor]

G I , you are right re EIS ,but tell that to Bill Clinton. His administration arbitralily closed 100s if not in the 1,000s of pre 1976 roads. They wouldn't even allow firefighters to use them. I don't know if they have ever been reopened.

 

[goldenIrishman]

If a person wants access and can prove that it was on a map before 1976* then all he/she has to do is take the map to the USFS or BLM in that area and tell them that the road was closed illegally and they want it opened back up. If they can't produce a copy of an EIS then it has to be re-opened plain and simple. If they still refuse, use the same tactic that the "Greenies" have been using for years. Threaten them with a law suite! There is no reason that we can't use the same methods that the "Greenies" do! Granted I don't like having to stoop to that level, but if it gets the job done and puts things right, then so be it! It doesn't matter if Clinton was president or not! He was still supposed to follow the law like everyone else. Guess he was too busy with Miss Monica to remember that little fact.

Just keep in mind that most likely the person in charge now was NOT the person in charge when this stuff happened. Be polite and don't start pointing fingers at them since they were not to blame. That the people in charge didn't stand up for the public at the time is not something that the current folks in charge had any hand in. More than likely they weren't even born yet.

* Maps for the correct time period are available from the USGS map page. They can be downloaded as PDF files for free or you can order hard copies for a small charge.

 

[Clay Diggins]

There is no exception for an EIS. The public way is not a particular route - it is the right of the public to travel freely from one place to another across the public lands. If the public traveled along the way as of 1976 the public can still travel today. It doesn't matter what the BLM or the Forest Service say. EIS or not. There is no need to prove the right exists it is enough to enjoy the public way without being hindered.

This is not a grant it is a pre existing right established by use. There is no legal process that can remove that right. Please don't confuse the obligation of some Agencies, Counties and States to maintain particular highways with the right to travel those public ways. A County or Forest managers decision to no longer maintain a public way has nothing to do with the public's right to travel those ways. The public own the highways and public ways in this country. There is no such thing as a state or government owned public way. The government zoning of a "right of way" should not be confused with the right to travel the public ways.