I agree with almost everything you've stated, except this statement. I have personally had three conversations with Clint about mining claims. Two of those conversations were conference calls with his supervisor to help me understand why my mining claim on another river was being revoked. He is not her sacrificial lamb. While he may be ignorant to the law, don't fool yourself into believing that he's Andy's Barney Fife sent to put down a minor uprising at Hank's barbershop. He is not "Poor Clint"...he has an agenda (IMHO) and he is more than willing to do everything he can to help fulfill it.
From my conversations with them, I gathered several things: They do not want any type of prospecting/mining done in any Idaho waterway. They do not believe that the lands are ours or that we have a right to mine the minerals.
While they did not come out and say it, I got the strong impression that they believed that the Mining Laws are antiquated and should no longer apply and they'll go to great lengths in an attempt to find loopholes to try to implement and enforce their misguided agenda. They come across as the master and we are the servants. He is anything but a sacrificial lamb...he is the instigator and the executor of an agenda.