Mother Nature Shows Why Anti-Dredging Laws Are Ridiculous

DizzyDigger

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And it only took a few days of good rain to do it...

This graph is from today (11-28-2014) and was measured at 19:15 PST.
The current flow in the Skagit River is 91,300 Cubic Feet per Second.

USGS.12194000.01.00060..20141121.20141128.log.0.p50.jpg

Currently 4ft. over flood stage, we're all hoping the river has crested.

This river runs behind my home, and it typically flows at about
12,000-18,000 CFS..except when the heavy rains come in the
Spring and Fall. With all that water flowing off the mountains the
river will generally swell to 50k-60k CFS, and when that happens all the
mud and silt gets washed into the river, too. Water looks like fast-flowing
chocolate milk, but it's also full of debris.

Over 80k CFS and the river starts carrying down trees and
massive logs, huge stumps and plenty more mud.

You can smell the silt in the air. The logs and whole trees grinding
downriver just get larger, and heavier, and like icebergs only a part
shows above water...the rest is dragging along the river bottom,
grinding up everything in it's path. The years salmon runs are just
finishing, and the river is loaded with salmon and steelhead eggs.
Water logged stumps with 120' trees attached to them are oblivious
to the salmon redds...they just grind them up along with the rest of
the bottom material. If you are near the river you can literally feel
the ground shudder as ten tons and 80' of soggy log slam into
boulders the size of a D10 Cat. Tens of thousands of yards of
gravel get redistributed as channels are dug out in one spot
and bars are created in new locations somewhere downriver.

The structure of the entire river is being "renovated" by Ma Nature;
she's not real timid about it. At the same time the ridiculous arguments
of the anti-dredging crowd are being ripped to shreds. The outflow of
a thousand 6" dredges running all year wouldn't make a pimple on the
arse of what Mother Nature did with some rain and melted snow in just
a couple of days.

Ma Nature could care less about "Sue and Settle", or responding to
the inane, endless attempts from the "Church of Save the Earth",
whose dogma is based on their version of a perfect dream world that
simply does not exist, nor will it ever.

p.s. It is currently about 35F, and clear skies. If it stays
cold and clear for a few days, the river will have returned
to it's beautiful, deep clear green normal self.
 

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goldenIrishman

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I agree Hefty! We as miners need to become more familiar with the laws if for no other reasons than to protect our rights and our investments. We all know that having a few people trying to do good on behalf of the rest of the country (The Greenies) just isn't working out well for us miners. Instead of protecting our rights, they strip more of them away at every turn. We have areas that have been mined for decades being closed down to make some new National Memorial or wilderness area that is not needed. In most cases it's strictly a land grab because they are in truth memorials to nothing. And do we need memorials that cover 350 THOUSAND acres? WAAAYYYYY Excessive to say the least. Sorry but I digress here.....

Any ranger that is going to be put in charge of a district should have to be able to pass a test that includes a section on the laws that he/she is supposed to be upholding! If they can't pass that test, they can not be put in that position. PERIOD!!!! This would accomplish three things that I can think of just off the top of my pointed little head here. First off they would know what the limits of their powers are BY LAW and secondly they couldn't use the good old "I didn't know" excuse when the overstep their authority. Last but no least, they would know that THEY can be held PERSONALLY ACCOUNTABLE for the actions they take (or don't take). This would include playing the pawn for those that want to take our public lands and the rights to use them away from us.
 

Bejay

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Mar 10, 2014
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"We As Miners".......seems to be a key phrase that is currently misconceived. If we recall in Calif, the State sent out a questionnaire to miners asking what they were. "Recreational" was the result of the questionnaire: taking 1st place. In Oregon when the State 1st started their (DSL) permit process it was designated "Recreational" dredge permit.

So began the two classification process> "Miners"....& ....."Recreational Miners" Then of course we see "clubs" that promote the "Recreational Miner" concept.

This IMHO is the straw that broke the camels back.....as a "Recreational Miner" removes a miner from the MEG. (Granted Right). Failure to learn is not advisable....a miner must have available correct info.

For those who watched Gold Rush last night one could have learned something that is very important today. Parker's grandfather acquired his claim the "Big Nugget" so he would have a place to take his family to look for and find a little gold....and to experience the outdoors. Later (at age 68) he became a full time miner.......and trained his grandson Parker to be a miner. Look where that led!

Part time Miners need to remember this one lesson in life: Often "Weekend Warrior" miners advance to full time miners.

One thing should be remembered though...a miner is a miner!

Relinquishing your Granted right to another authority has led us down the wrong path. Many of us have spent considerable time promoting the Granted Right. But unfortunately many/majority/most fail to put in the effort......as fear of Gov prevails.

Hopefully those willing to "approach the bench" and stand up for their rights will eventually win the day. Not an easy task but one requiring promotion. An army of defiant miners willing to stand tall may curb the advancement of the "Anti Crowd".

The Mineral Estate Grant is the key....as no other individual in America enjoys such power upon the public lands open to mineral entry. That is why the Liberal agenda is promoting monuments etc.....they simply can not abolish the Grant.......once given it is a contract that can not be taken away. Supreme Court Case Law made this determination when someone stood tall!

Bejay
 

Oregon Viking

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Remember all prospectors are miners and don’t let anyone tell you differently. It makes sense when you think about it. One must prospect for the gold before you can mine it. Simple. Refrain from calling mining “hobby” or “recreational” mining. Our foes are trying to divide and conquer, first by separating us into two targets and labeling us as “miners” and “recreational miners,” as if to say miners who have another source of income are not real miners. In fact, there is no distinction under the law — a miner is a miner is a miner. No exceptions. The minute a miner finds a significant gold deposit, he or she becomes a full-time miner. That’s a no-brainer, but yet there are many who don’t seem to — or claim not to — understand this simple concept.
By BRAD JONES
GPAA Managing Editor. Sounds like good advice to me!! Seems pretty easy to do!
 

goldenIrishman

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I agree with you on many points Bejay, but I can't help but wonder about those surveys that California did.

I have a lot of friends and family in California, some of whom own claims that they mine and not a single one of them even heard of the survey. So what I want to know from the state is how they determined who to send these surveys out to. Since no miner I know has even heard of such a survey it makes me wonder. My guess would be that they got their hands on the GPAAs membership records or something and used that as their mailing list.

Another question I'd like to have the state answer would be "Why was this survey needed in the first place? Our rights to mine on public lands are a federal law that the State should not be allowed to interfere with." The scale of our operations should never even have to be considered. We are miners. PERIOD!!! We have claims and we dig in the ground for minerals. Do we support ourselves by our mining activities? It doesn't make any difference if we do or not. Some mine as their main income, some supplement their income by mining and others do it for the exercise. To the best of my knowledge, there is NOTHING in the federal mining laws that say you have to be supporting yourself by mining to file for and work a claim. Therefore, to break miners down into different "Classes" based on their level of activity it yet another waste of taxpayer money.

Last but not least on this survey would be how do we know that the results as stated by the state are the actual facts? In these days of political "bait and switch" how does the public KNOW that what the state said the results were are the true results? How do we know that the state wasn't supporting some groups agenda by skewing the results? Of course if asked I'm sure that the state would reply that the survey forms were either lost or destroyed after it was felt that they were no longer needed.

I think that this survey was unnecessary in the first place but I also think it would be interesting to re-do that poll independently from the state to see what if any difference the results show. Making sure that it goes to all current claim owners regardless of how many claims they own. One claim or one hundred you only get one form to fill out and return. Let the GPAA and LDMAs home offices represent their entire memberships since the vast majority of their members are not actual claim owners. If the environmentalists will stoop to using false and bought science to further their various agendas, what's to say they wouldn't work to skew the results (from a survey that never should have been sent out in the first place) by selective mailing?

Bejay is 100% correct in that the so called "Recreational Miner" classification has hurt all miners across the country. We ALL have to learn to never use that word and mining together! It doesn't matter if it is not our main source of income as we are still miners. We support many small businesses by our activities no matter what their scale is. We pay our fees and for the most part do more to help keep the public lands clean than most environmental groups do and at no charge to the taxpayers of this country. All miners need to band together to protect our rights before they are all striped away from us and we have to resort to activities like knitting or basket weaving to be within "The Law".
 

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