Michigan has new prospecting laws

[liftloop]

Hay every one new laws.

there calling it recreational panning. sluicing at a certain time of the year...Half once is the max your a loud to poises and it starts April 1... sluicing starts in July to the end of August. Sluice can't me no more than 55 inches long a foot wide and six a half inches deep,and you need a 50.00 dollar permit your only a loud on none trout streams. and on the D.N.R property. They have to own the land and the mineral right to the property theirs more on it just Google michigan laws on gold panning.....

 

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[williamsingr]

Yes they pass a law to allow but dont repeal an older law that doesnt allow it. As it is even with the law allowing you are still not allowed to pan, sluice, dredge, or dig on any designated trout stream, natural stream or natural area. So what does that leave, Not a dam thing ! Not that its going to stop me mind you, your just not going to find me when I go out.

 

[grzbear]

AMEN to not finding me

 

[Maitland]

At first I thought this thread was maybe a bad April Fool's Day joke or something, but apparently not. I was thinking of taking a road trip to the U.P. this summer. So you guys in Michigan aren't really allowed (legally) to do any prospecting whatsoever? This is really scary, I have read it's starting to get bad out near the west coast (thanks to the environmentalists) and if prospecting is starting to get run-out in Michigan too then pretty soon it's going to start closing-in on the states like Colorado, South Dakota, Idaho, Montana, etc. What's even worse is to think of how things will be 100 years from now... probably won't even be able to fart out in the woods without getting slapped around by the gov't!

 

[williamsingr]

This was a conservation act they passed back in the 60.s sometime I think but excatly sure. There have been several attempts to modify the bill such as a dredging bill but it keeps getting shot down. Buy if you were planning on coming here just to try and prospect not to say you cant find gold becasue gold has been found in a lot of the streams in Michigan more so down state but its flour gold, very small flakes, only a few areas have been known to produce pea size nuggets, but with the laws in effect you do risk being fined since every river under the law is protected, its all B.S. for sure

 

[Rockhunter1620]

1 half oz, per person, per year, Ha, Ha Ha, what a joke! Way tooooo many fancy city people, wearin city suits, workin in city offices, and havin tea, conspiring with gvmt, grant funded tree huggin, eco fruitballs. And all these people hide behind some idiot idea that we need to "save the planet", this planet has been here fer 4.57 billion yrs, and this planet will be here fer another 3-5 billion more yrs, before our star begins to expand into a "red giant" and incinerate all the small rocky bodies orbiting it. I think there's a good bit more glacially deposited gold in our surface soils than they want us to believe. And these laws and policies that "make it fair fer everyone",(their excuse) are made by people who would never step more than 50ft. from the stoop of their 250K. RV's that will allways be parked in paved/groomed state park. God forbid any pesant should try to carve from the ground just enough valuable material to pay some bill and earn an honest, modest living, their attitude is go git yerself a minimum wage, 30hr/wk job in the city, shut up and be lucky we let you work like rat fer a poverty income so we can make all the money, oh and you HAVE to pee in a cup every week "randomly" to keep this job, never mind that the "CEO" is on a cocaine bender in the Bahamas this. Sorry fellers, this rant has gone on too much I think. I just want find some Au and a few meteorites and I should be allowed to do what ever I want solong as I don't leave no holes, footprints, or trash. I just need to move to AZ. Leave this B$ state and never look back. Just my

 

[Ism]

I don't think this applies to private property. The GPAA was sucking the gold vapors out of a privately owned tributary that was a designated trout stream. I don't know if a permit was paid to the state for the use but it would have to have covered all members that worked the property.

(I should probably read the rules again before spouting off)

The only thing that sounds new about this is the time of year restriction. The trout and salmon streams are off limits (almost all rivers and tribs in mich fall under that catagory). Also rivers and streams that are classified as "natural" are off limits (growing in size every year). As far as I understood it, the $50 permit is for a large more permanent operation. I never saw anything about the $50 permit attached to recreational panning or sluicing and I thoroughly read the DNR restrictions last year (was in the UP). Do your own investigating, but I never worried about getting in trouble...... too much.

Hay every one new laws.

there calling it recreational panning. sluicing at a certain time of the year...Half once is the max your a loud to poises and it starts April 1... sluicing starts in July to the end of August. Sluice can't me no more than 55 inches long a foot wide and six a half inches deep,and you need a 50.00 dollar permit your only a loud on none trout streams. and on the D.N.R property. They have to own the land and the mineral right to the property theirs more on it just Google michigan laws on gold panning.....

 

[williamsingr]

Yes the laws even apply to private property I called the DNR for clarifications because my cabin has a designated trout stream running through the property and I wanted to set up a sluice and they said , NO ! Well they can say whatever they want i really dont care, they dont help me when trespassers run all over during deer season and they sure dont do anything about all the fishermen leaving their garbage all over my property and keeping everything they catch. I have found some small flecks of silver and gold and one nice silver nugget about 2 and half grams or so, so they can kiss my corn hole.

 

[Maitland]

This is kind of off-topic but it's something I was wondering about. I visited the U.P. when I was a kid and I remember touring a mine or two and then checking out some abandoned ones in the countryside. How come with as much copper mining (and any other minerals) that was done in Michigan way back when, it is not a state where you can have BLM mining claims? Maybe it's a stupid question, but I'm just curious... I mean was all of the copper mining done on private land or something back then? I was also wondering how this worked with Minnesota where they had all of the iron and talconite mining (and still do in a few places), how is it done in a state where no mining claims can be registered? Just curious, I'd really like to know if anyone has an answer.

 

[williamsingr]

No idea what happend my best guess is someone with a lot of money bought off the people in charge and the laws were changed, such has been the case through out our history for instance in the lumber industry which if you know anything about what happend is why the laws about marijuana are federal and therefore super cede any state laws.

 

[liftloop]

They took the land from the Indians like all ways. Douglass Houghton was Michigan first mineral Geologist up here and mapped the place a long with others and confirmed the stories about the abundance of copper. The mines came in people settled down and if there property had copper on it. the mining company bought out all the privately owned claims and all the smaller mining companies, and a lot of time they would end up mining the same vain owned by different company my dad worked the mines a round here. he came from England when he was a little boy his dad worked in the mines too. My little sister went to Ellis Island and seen our grandpa's name on the registry how cool is that... Douglass Houghton died off the shore of eagle harbor but they say he found gold down in Menominee on the river but he died before he could map it. but any way they named a water fall after him up here. call the Douglass Houghton falls but it's all privately owned now. I hope I got the story some what strait

 

[williamsingr]

The Menominee is another designated trout stream but I sure would like to see the water falls. By law you can fish the stream even if its on private property. Is that water fall easy to get to?

 

[whiskeyrat]

Since virtually every inch of water in northern and central Michigan are trout streams, the new law allowing recreational panning on State land is worthless.
However, I contacted the Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) that controls the Manistee National Forest Lands in Michigan.
They informed me that recreational panning and sluicing are allowed on all Federal lands including trout streams and national scenic rivers.
I specificially asked them about trout streams and scenic rivers. They said no restrictions as long as its not mechanized.
1/2 oz per year limit does apply.
Must not dig the banks, and only non mechanized sluices (no motors or pumps). Manual only.
So, hopefully they told me correctly.
Stay off the State lands, but according to BLM its ok on federal lands.
If anyone else contacts thems and gets any other info, please let me know.

 

[63bkpkr]

Liftloop,
That is a shame and somehow I have a feeling it is an illegitamate law as the Federal Mining Law came first and it still holds sway. Goodness only knows what prompted it but I hope it is challenged and goes away.....63bkpkr

 

[russau]

youve got to remember that this isnt federal land! this is aquired land and NOT subject to the 1866/1872 mining laws! the MDNR can do whatever they decide to do with that states land.its completely different than the western sates that are federal lands.

 

[Greywolf66]

The passing of the new law nullifies the older

 

[enamel7]

4 1/2 year old post.