Garbage all over mining claim

[northern_sierras]

I backpacked to a remote area a couple days ago on a creek and found a mining claim with garbage strewn everywhere. There was about 1/8th of an acre with literally every kind of trash you can imagine - old sleeping bags, gas cans, thousands of food cans, etc etc and a highbanker setup. I called the forest service and was told that the owner has had the claim for over 3 years and has already been told to clean up the mess. Im wondering what actions can be taken to have his claim removed from his ownership. I feel the forest service is undermanned out here and is not fully capable of dealing with this type of thing due to the loss of funds from the active fire season out here in cali.

 

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[stefen]

The FS is aware of the problem and have cited the Claim Owner.

Their hands are tied, and due to limited funds cannot do anything further.

So the only way its going to be cleaned up is when you get some trash bags and clean it up yourself.

Not what you want to hear but that's the facts of life.

Great subject...

 

[Bonaro]

If your neighbor had trash in his front yard would you support having his property forfeited to the government? That's a slippery slope....

 

[oregonmp03]

I hiked in to an area that had recently gone unclaimed last year and found a tarp covering a bunch of boxes weighed down by rocks and logs. Under the tarp was everything from kids toys, a few desk drawers, someones luggage full of clothes, and lots of other stuff. I covered it back up but it was all moldy and covered in mushrooms. Like someone just moved an entire room out to the middle of the woods, a mile from any road. BLM didn't have much to say about, my guess is it's still sitting there....

 

[Hefty1]

I backpacked to a remote area a couple days ago on a creek and found a mining claim with garbage strewn everywhere. There was about 1/8th of an acre with literally every kind of trash you can imagine - old sleeping bags, gas cans, thousands of food cans, etc etc and a highbanker setup. I called the forest service and was told that the owner has had the claim for over 3 years and has already been told to clean up the mess. Im wondering what actions can be taken to have his claim removed from his ownership. I feel the forest service is undermanned out here and is not fully capable of dealing with this type of thing due to the loss of funds from the active fire season out here in cali.

WHY...didn't you call the claim owner...look it up...easy enough to do...Dah...instead of being a tattle tale... it might not have been the claim owners fault...doesn't seem to be to remote. I had campers trash my claim...I clean it up
My GOD leave FS out of it!

 

[russau]

I completely agree with Hefty1 . I personally hate a trashy camping location myself! and possibly get a group together and go out and clean it up ! make a day of it and a bar-b-q for the helpers ! and haul that trash out! there are groups that do that often! How did you know it was a mineing claim ? If it was , maybe the owner stored his equipment and some friggin greenies trashed it............. Yep id give the owner a call and possibly start somesort of clean up action! why wait for someone else!

 

[fowledup]

Sounds more like a bear to me. Guy probably would have been very appreciative for a heads up or heaven for bid a little help. Even if the guy was a slob, better we police ourselves than having the tactical clad forest service do it. Next time something like this happens to you, if you won't do it, pm one of us here and we'll try and make contact with the guy.

 

[Goldwasher]

If the Forest service had been to the location....the guys stuff would have been gone....ask hefty about that one.....Maybe the guys stuff was cached properly ( empty food cans nahhh.thats just being lazy.) and a bear ...or raccoons or punk a$$ teenagers messed with it. A call to the claim owner might have helped the guy out... If it is a claim he will be easy to get in touch with. F.s. may have had a report but, they don't have the records to say that there is a claim there that's in BLM records..Sounds like they just wanted to have some kind of answer. I would be in contact with the owner if there is one......if not then I would be cleaning it up myself...including the abandoned hibanker!!

 

[CO2]

If your neighbor had trash in his front yard would you support having his property forfeited to the government? That's a slippery slope....

The problem with your analogy is it's not the claim owner's property. That's our property, property of the people of the United States, and the claim owner pays the low price $155 a year for the privilege of mining 20 acres our land. If the claimant can't take care of our land then the mining privilege should be revoked and potentially re-sold to a party willing to take care of the land.

 

[CO2]

But obviously the claimant should be given ample opportunity to clean the place up, especially if it's not the claimant's mess.

 

[diggummup]

I agree with keeping the feds out of our business. However, it sounds like this guy is just a friggin slob that likes to crap where he eats. Doesn't sound like bears or coons or teenagers to me. People like that give ALL of you a bad name, remember that. Kind of like the metal detectorist that goes around digging holes and not filling them in, only worse, in my opinion.

I agree with Goldwasher, contact the dirtbag tell him to clean up his claim in x amount of time or you will, along with anything that may be of value like that hibanker. Maybe he needs to be taught a lesson in respect, as in respect the land you are given the right to prospect on.

Like CO2 says, if he can't be a responsible claim owner then he should lose his rights to the claim and let someone else who respects the land have it.

ps- and no Bonaro, you can't compare someones front yard to a public mining claim. Apples and oranges there buddy.

 

[Hefty1]

"The problem with your analogy is it's not the claim owner's property. "

Yes it is! 10-1 he doesn't know about it. Anybody got a claim name or number? I will call him or her.

 

[johnnysau]

Just a latitude and longitude of the location the NAME and CLAIM NUMBER can probaly be figured from there. johnnysau

 

[Hefty1]

"ps- and no Bonaro, you can't compare someones front yard to a public mining claim. Apples and oranges there buddy."


There is no such thing as a public mining claim.

 

[G-bone]

Good post to discuss....

Trashed forest sucks!! And people who go out to destroy it just for fun also suck.

That said, I would think that the majority of prospectors that go that far to stake a claim in the boonies and get their gear into a remote area, are fairly like-minded in keeping things decent, and for the most part, respect nature and her surroundings.
So if I came across this scene, my first guess would be Bear or other mammals getting into the claim owners stuff.
That or vandals before blaming a claim owner for just being a slob.

Also, the forest service is not one to bring into the picture.
They hate us all and will use every shred of ammo to keep us out.
This situation would surely hurt us prospectors.

I have to agree with others that it is best to police our own if possible in these situations.
IF it was a true claim, the markers would be there and the claim info all there as mentioned by others.

And ff that was my claim and I left my stuff up there, planning on coming back the next weekend (or whatever), I would be very thankful to get a note from a fellow prospector stating that he or she found my area trashed.
Or even better, I didn't leave any stuff up there......so someone is claim jumping me!!!

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

Did the Op find any gold up there or were you policing the woods for trash ?

 

[CO2]

"The problem with your analogy is it's not the claim owner's property. "

Yes it is!

Unless the claimant filed a mineral patent application on or before September 30, 1994, then no, that is not the claim owner's property. That is still public land and the owner of that land is still the people of the United States. The claimant is not permitted to build any permanent structures on his or her unpatented mining claim and certainly is not permitted to turn the claim into a garbage dump. The only thing the claim owner actually owns is an exclusive license to extract minerals from public property, therefore any minerals that are extracted while the claim is active are also property of the claim owner (regardless of which party extracted those minerals and their legal authority to do so). This is why walking across somebody else's unpatented claim is not trespassing until the moment you get your pan dirty or pick up a rock and take it with you. If the claimant fails to pay the $155 annual renewal fee then the mineral rights go right back to the people, because that land never actually belonged to the claimant. They only own the license to extract the minerals. That license can and should be revoked if the claimant doesn't prove to be a responsible steward of the people's land.

Now if the claimant does in fact have a valid patent on the claim then yes, they do own the land, in which case unaffiliated parties would no longer have an automatic right to enter that land even just to pass through. Given that the claimant has owned the claim "for over 3 years" and not considerably longer than that, and given that the OP was present on the claim (obviously without permission from the claimant), it can be deduced that no, the claimant has not patented the claim therefore the claim is still public property and as such, the claimant's privilege to extract minerals there could readily be revoked.

This is my understanding. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[CO2]

As for private parties "cleaning up" somebody else's claim, beware! According to the Forest Service [PDF]:

Once an unpatented claim is abandoned, ownership of buildings, structures, equipment, artifacts, etc. becomes property of the United States. Removal or use of such property requires Forest Service authorization.

 

[IdahoJake]

Never get the Forest Service involved in anything...ever! Especially, when it has to do with mining or prospecting. In my book, they are right up there (or down there, I should say) with the IRS and the EPA. They've become another bloated government agency that is drunk on power. If all three of these agencies were abolished, you would see no tears in my eyes (except for joy). If you contact anyone, contact the claim owner.

 

[CO2]

I agree that because the claimant has agreed to take responsibility for the claim site, that anybody sufficiently concerned about the condition of a claim site should first attempt to contact the claimant directly. What happens if the claimant repeatedly cannot be reached though? I'm not sure it's better to ignore a trash dump on public land than to notify the appropriate authorities of a prohibited use of an unpatented mining claim.