Significant disturbance or paper claim California dreaming?

[Tuolumne]

How many claim owners in California actually have plans to do real mining w a plan of operation notice of intent or actually will put down a reclamation bond?

Seems like alot of gold club members getup triple claims and use small miners waiver to hold them but never do more than run a sluice?

If you have a bunch of claims who are you kidding? R u going to put a reclamation bond on each one or are you holding multiple claims until the price if gold goes up to move to more significant disturbance.

Are you waiting out till dredging gets re-regulated?

How many of the 440+ tuolumne county claim owners have real mining plans and drilling samples?

How many on t et with just 20 acres actually have done the next step up?

The paper claim owner next to me has multiple claims hundreds of miles away from his other claims and his home address?

Are most dreaming of bringing a front loader and moving tuns while sluicing 5 gallon buckets?

Anyone recently file a poo or NOI or bond a reclamation fund?

I've got one claim and want to dig it all up eventually, not paper claim and drop them when better panning prospects are found. Sluicing is not the end to the means for my goals.

Anyone else have plans besides paper claim dreams in California?

 

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[goldenIrishman]

I got a letter yesterday from the FS about an noi. I'll be reading this thread with a fine tooth comb when I get some more time. My gold is in a dry Creek.

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How are you working this claim? If you're not using anything but a shovel and working it by hand, the federal courts have already ruled that a hands and pans type of operation CAN NOT cause a significant disturbance and because of this a NOI/POO is NOT REQUIRED. If you have brought in any kind of mechanized digging equipment, (Backhoe, Loader, BobCat etc.) it's another matter. The included PDF is a copy of the orders of the court on a case that I'm well acquainted with. The gentleman involved in this action (brought upon by an overzealous district ranger was/is the president of the prospecting club in Sierra Vista, AZ. and is a friend. He had to waste over 3 years because of this action.

 

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[HMiller]

I'm just using pick and shovel into my recirculating gold cube trommel. They aren't requiring a noi but the paper states that I can't dig within 200 feet of any creek, drainage or spring. That's my main concern as all the gold I have found is in a dry Creek/drainage running the length of the claim. Thanks for the info.

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[Goldfleks]

The second bullet point. Does that mean you can't dig IN the drainage, or just within 200 feet of it? So anything within the high water mark would be fine, but the next 200ft would be off limits. Lawyer talk, i know.

 

[Bejay]

Washington State Historic Preservation Office is mentioned in the text. Is there more to this than one might imagine?
Is there an MOU?

What is a MOU?
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is a written agreement between two or more parties that defines the roles and responsibilities of each party with respect to the collaborative efforts of a particular program/project. A MOU is sometimes called a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
Why is a MOU important?
A MOU is important because it outlines specific roles and responsibilities so that all parties have a clear understanding of their purpose in the partnership. With a clear understanding of the purpose, organizations can begin working together on the objectives to achieve the goal(s) of the MOU.

Link to the State Historic Preservation Page

http://www.dahp.wa.gov/

Bejay

 

[HMiller]

The only thing I have found on the 40 acres is an old claim marker. There are no buildings etc.

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[HMiller]

Also it has been an active claim for years.

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[winners58]

I got a letter yesterday from the FS about an noi. I'll be reading this thread with a fine tooth comb when I get some more time. My gold is in a dry Creek.

could be a form letter sent to all the claim owners in the area, to be binding it would have to be a demand for a NOI, doesn't seem like it is.
I got one like that, traced it back to the 1994 forest plan, I just don't mine at the level, just a form letter or a FS employee saying you might
need a NOI, is not an order to do something, look into it, find out where they're getting this from, to get a better idea of what is relevant to you.

 

[HMiller]

That's what I was thinking. We know the mineral administrator fairly well so maybe a call to her would help clear it up. I doubt the district ranger has ever been to the area.

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[Bejay]

Title 36: Parks, Forests, and Public Property
PART 228-MINERALS
Subpart A-Locatable Minerals

§ 228.4 Plan of operations-notice of intent-requirements.

(vii) Operations for which a proposed plan of operations is submitted for approval;

(2) The District Ranger will, within 15 days of receipt of a notice of intent to operate, notify the operator if approval of a plan of operations is required before the operations may begin.
____________________________________

Notice that the District Ranger is only required to:

"notify the operator IF approval of a plan of operations is required"

That IF means the District Ranger IS NOT required to "notify the operator" IF no plan of operations is required.

If the person submitting the NOI doesn't hear from the District Ranger within 15 days (+ a reasonable time for mail) it is safe to assume that the District Ranger has determined that the proposed mining will NOT constitute a "significant surface disturbance".


CFR Title 36: Parks, Forests, and Public Property CHAPTER II: FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PART 228: MINERALS wrote:

(4) If the District Ranger determines that any operation is causing or will likely cause significant disturbance of surface resources, the District Ranger shall notify the operator that the operator must submit a proposed plan of operations for approval and that the operations can not be conducted until a plan of operations is approved.


Please note that these are the regulations the Forest Service follows. They are not laws but an attempt to implement their limited authority under FLPMA to prevent "undue degradation" of the land surface under their management. There is a lot more to these Forest CFR regulations but keep in mind the "scope" these regulations are limited to.

Title 36: Parks, Forests, and Public Property CHAPTER II: FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE PART 261: PROHIBITIONS Subpart A: General Prohibitions wrote:



261.1 - Scope.

(b) Nothing in this part shall preclude activities as authorized by the Wilderness Act of 1964 or the U.S. Mining Laws Act of 1872 as amended.


The point being they can not require you to submit a Notice of Intent. If they later determine, after investigation, that you are creating a "significant surface disturbance" and notify you of such they may ask you to submit a POO. If you refuse to submit a POO it is up to the Forest Service to prove to a court that you are indeed creating a "significant surface disturbance". The ball is in their court then.

They would like you to believe that a certain amounts of land being disturbed or certain equipment being used amount to a "significant surface disturbance" but the courts have ruled otherwise. Each circumstance is different.


Bejay