Another one that wasnt supposed to pass

[fowledup]

Another one that wasn't supposed to pass

California Mining Reform Law signed by Governor Brown

By: The Sierra Fund

April 19, 2016 - Late yesterday afternoon Governor Brown signed into law two significant pieces of legislation aimed at improving enforcement of California’s Surface Mining and Reclamation Act (SMARA). The Governor signed SB 209 (Pavley) and AB 1142 (Gray), two complementary bills that together represent significant reform to SMARA.

In a letter asking for his signature, Elizabeth Martin, CEO of The Sierra Fund (sponsors of SB 209) noted that: “Reform of SMARA is a top priority for many Californians, including County Supervisors, responsible mining companies and other businesses, conservation organizations, and community members that live around active mines.”

SB 209 and AB 1142 together make numerous changes to the state surface mining provisions regarding reclamation plans, financial assurances, annual inspections, and enforcement. The bills were a product of a “stakeholder process” initiated by the Governor’s office, that Martin participated in last winter and spring. Ideas that emerged from these meetings to strengthen and support consistent enforcement of SMARA by lead agencies were incorporated into the two pieces of legislation signed yesterday.

“The State has an interest in regulating mining to ensure that a mine is operated in compliance with its locally issued permit, which protects the State’s water and air from contamination, and to ensure that when the mine ceases operation it is remediated to be ready for a beneficial end use,” Martin notes. Prior to SMARA’s enactment in 1975 – when it was signed by then-Governor Jerry Brown – mines were not required to undergo reclamation at the end of operation, and as a result California has 47,000 un-reclaimed, abandoned legacy mines that pose a serious threat to the health and safety of all Californians.

“Thank you to Senator Pavley and Assembly Member Gray for their hard work in bringing these two bills forward, and to Governor Brown for his leadership on mining reform, both in the 1970s and again this year,” Martin said.

The Sierra Fund’s Legacy Mining Program has been working to address the issues related to mining impacts on the Sierra Nevada’s watersheds since 2006. For more information:

 

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[AU_Solitude]

 

[Mad Machinist]

Since CA wants to be anti everything, I vote we help them with their carbon emissions plan and quit sending them natural gas and electricity. Let's see how well that mag-lev they want to build runs on solar.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Reclamation is good but these people are bad.

 

[Hoser John]

Nice well lets regulate what's already been banned, the simple stupid s-

 

[Jeff95531]

Nicely stated John. LOL

 

[HardHatMatt]

A slight tangent here, but I opened the most recent copy of 5280 (a local Denver magazine) to find a 3+ page spread entitled, "Whose Land is it Anyway?" by Mike Kessler. The tagline is "How a mining law that dates to the 1870s is limiting access to backcountry recreation trails and posing a threat to Colorado's wild spaces." It centers around a man named Rusty Nichols and his (and other's) attempts to educate and keep people off of patented claims within Forest Service land. Despite acknowledging throughout the article that the vast majority of these patents have existed well before the Forest Service was a twinkle in Uncle Sam's eye, the writer seems to suggest that the laws should be changed and the patents be "handed back" to the feds. Makes complete sense, Mike!

Apologies - I would link to the article itself but it doesn't seem to be available on their website.

 

[fowledup]

I know "they can't do this" just like they couldn't pass this law, but hypothetically speaking how does this effect the guy who has claimed one of their historical "legacy" hydraulic mines? Let's say that the new claimants scope of work has been limited to hands and pans, metal detecting and a bit of high-banking. Now for whatever reason he drops the claim. Who are the proverbial "they" gonna come after for the reclamation work? I've heard from folks that this is only directed at large scale mining operations. Ok well what if this hypothetical guys claim was a large scale operation historically? The original owners are long gone and enjoying their time with their maker, and I see no provisions that grandfather any protection for a new claimant. Another wonderful well thought out piece of legislation spearheaded by the freakin Sierra Fund. Oh yeah who were the steak holders from our side they supposedly worked with to bring this to fruition? Granite construction again I suppose.

 

[Alex Burke]

San Francisco (Yerba Buena) and the Helvetica (Sacramento) valley were stolen from General Augustus Sutter according to (untaught) history and the Supreme Court decision he won of the era. Maybe it's time to return the land to its rightful owners someone should find Sutter's heirs and try to get them to appeal to have the Supreme Court decision enforced and Ca given back to them

 

[goldenIrishman]

Next thing yo know, the Sierra Fund will begin dredging to clean up the Mercury on the tax payers dollar. Oh wait! That's already their plan isn't it?!?!?! Since when is "Dizzy Izzy" a "Stakeholder" when it comes to mining? I thought the "Not for Profit" groups were forbidden from sponsoring bills like this or from making contributions to political candidates. Time to follow the money and get their NFP status revoked!

 

[fowledup]

Next thing yo know, the Sierra Fund will begin dredging to clean up the Mercury on the tax payers dollar. Oh wait! That's already their plan isn't it?!?!?! Since when is "Dizzy Izzy" a "Stakeholder" when it comes to mining? I thought the "Not for Profit" groups were forbidden from sponsoring bills like this or from making contributions to political candidates. Time to follow the money and get their NFP status revoked!

I will say that myself and many many others have talked with or written to just about anyone or any agency we can think of trying to get someone to look into these people and no one will touch it or lift a finger to help. Not our reps, regulatory agencies, whistle blower outlets, media, IRS, no one, nobody, nada! They must have pictures of folks doing some very bad things to whatever or their scared, on the take, or simply don't care. If it was you or I doing this crud we would be locked up and the door welded shut. Enough of these PC, money hungry, scourge of the earth "Social Justice and Environmental Warriors".

 

[rodoconnor]

San Francisco (Yerba Buena) and the Helvetica (Sacramento) valley were stolen from General Augustus Sutter according to (untaught) history and the Supreme Court decision he won of the era. Maybe it's time to return the land to its rightful owners someone should find Sutter's heirs and try to get them to appeal to have the Supreme Court decision enforced and Ca given back to them

What a can of worms this would open up !!

 

[winners58]

"Green Mining" sounds like an oxymoron to me, but hay if they will give you a permit,
an EA of no significant impact to divert a river and use heavy equipment.
its not surface mining its environmental remediation.
just have to come up with a good name, Sierra Green Mining Corporation etc...

there's already a few
Green Planet Group Acquires Gold Mining Claim

 

[Aufisher]

Izzy do you retort or use the baked potato method?

 

[KevinInColorado]

A slight tangent here, but I opened the most recent copy of 5280 (a local Denver magazine) to find a 3+ page spread entitled, "Whose Land is it Anyway?" by Mike Kessler. The tagline is "How a mining law that dates to the 1870s is limiting access to backcountry recreation trails and posing a threat to Colorado's wild spaces." It centers around a man named Rusty Nichols and his (and other's) attempts to educate and keep people off of patented claims within Forest Service land. Despite acknowledging throughout the article that the vast majority of these patents have existed well before the Forest Service was a twinkle in Uncle Sam's eye, the writer seems to suggest that the laws should be changed and the patents be "handed back" to the feds. Makes complete sense, Mike!

Apologies - I would link to the article itself but it doesn't seem to be available on their website.

If they "took back" all the patented land, there'd be almost zero private land in all of Summit County. Pretty much all the ski condos, stores, etc are on patented placer claims, mill sites, etc.

If the Feds want a piece of land, they can pay a fair price for it just like you or me!!

 

[fowledup]

Izzy do you retort or use the baked potato method?

Neither, the retort contributes to global warming and potatoes have feelings! The prefered mercury extraction method favored by the Sierra Fund is Organic Fairy Dust of which they have a never ending supply. I can also tell you, and this is from a very reliable source that she is partial to steel gold pans because the blue, green, and black plastic ones are chalked full of BP's. Keep an eye out for a Biodegradable line of pans and hand tools bearing the TSF logo- WOOHOOO! Huggin it out the hard way!

 

[Clay Diggins]

San Francisco (Yerba Buena) and the Helvetica (Sacramento) valley were stolen from General Augustus Sutter according to (untaught) history and the Supreme Court decision he won of the era. Maybe it's time to return the land to its rightful owners someone should find Sutter's heirs and try to get them to appeal to have the Supreme Court decision enforced and Ca given back to them

You are correct that Sutter had his grant affirmed by the Supreme Court. You misunderstand the area of the grant though. The grant was 11 square leagues - just slightly more than 76 square miles. The grant ran in about a 3 to 8 mile wide strip east of the Sacramento River and north for about 20 miles along the Feather River to Sutter Butte just west of Marysville (New Helvitia) and a small portion of the Yuba. That was the "New Helvitia" grant (see map). He never claimed Yerba Buena or any area near San Francisco.

Sutter did claim he had a grant to about three times as much land but he never could produce the grant papers or a witness that the land was ever granted so the courts dismissed those claims. Neither grant was registered by the Mexican or Spanish government so two of the Supreme Court Justices objected to giving Sutter even the New Helvitia grant.

Sutter did sell land all throughout the Sacramento River valley. Sadly everything but the 11 leagues was not his to sell! He got himself and his son in a heck of a mess selling and giving away land he didn't own. All the 11 leagues were eventually found to be owned by the people he sold it to. Sutter spent the last 15 years of his life in Pennsylvania begging Congress to give him a payment for his "services" in settling California. They never gave him a penny. That was probably in part due to the fact he was a Mexican citizen that raised an army and fought the Americans that eventually won the war and conquered California.

If you look today all that land from the New Helvetia grant is still private. In fact virtually all the private land in the western United States is grant land. It's where we live and work today. The Sutter grant and all the other grants are owned today by the heirs and assigns (people who bought the land from the heirs). There is nothing to "give back" - unless you happen to be one of the original natives General Sutter and all the other "settlers" killed and stole from. But that's another story for another time.

Heavy Pans

 

[Hoser John]

General John Fremont was the father of California, Sutter not so much really as just too much lies, deceptions, shams, scams and enslavement of Indians(the Monks thought that was their right said Father j. Sierra as they were supposed to build them more missions, till their fields, work the mines and convert from their heathen ways sic sic sic). John

 

[Goldwasher]

Fremont didn't spend all that much time in california. All the socio-political doins' had already started before he happened to be here. He got him self relieved for insubordination. over five expeditions he spent more time in the rest of the Great Basin than he did in California. His senate term lasted less than 180 days

Strong personality in the right place at the right time is about it. He had much larger impacts in other states even. Father of California not so much.

Explorers and exploration are great. Yet, they are really just nevv observers to a situation that already existed before their "discovery".

As to the subject of this thread...it is more proof that certain groups get certain favors and vvork vvithin a double standard due to their political agenda.
Izzy has a formal complaint aginst the S.F. already " being investigated" if you follovv them you vvill soon see that the people vvithin the marble halls have no intintion to do anything to her other than prasie and revvard her vvith your money.

In the future look for several pro- mining non-profits to have their status challenged and not get the same back scratching.

 

[Clay Diggins]

General John Fremont was the father of California. John

Fremont wasn't even born when Portola founded California in 1769. Fremont was two years old when Mexico split California off from Baja and made it a separate territory in 1822. There is a lot of California history and settlement by Europeans before Fremont ever even heard of the place.

As for the original inhabitants the natives were better off under the Spanish who had made Indian slavery illegal in 1542. The Franciscans were ordered to build missions, plant crops, construct mills, educate the natives and turn it all over to the local tribes within 10 years. We know that didn't happen but it was the law. Spain outlawed all forms of slavery in all their colonies by 1811 - before Fremont was born. As we know the United States didn't get around to that until 1865 - long after Fremont started the California revolt in 1846.

The wholesale murder of natives on sight was entirely an American thing. The California natives were all but extinct within 40 years of Fremont's arrival. I don't know Fremont's head count in those slaughters but considering his best friend was Kit Carson (reputed to have killed more than 6,000 Indians) I suspect he was fully behind the practice. Fremont himself was proud of the fact that he and Carson murdered an entire village of Klamath and Fremont encouraged Carson to add to his huge scalp collection on their many journeys through California and the west together.

Fremont ordered the murder of miners and civilian Mexican men and children during the Bear Flag revolt to prevent the possibility they might tell the Mexican authorities what he was up to. Fremont had his own problems with California land after it became a State. Like Sutter he won at the Supreme Court level but he died broke and destitute in New York after losing all his lands and a 10 million dollar fortune in gold taken from his property around Mariposa. The Congress tried to help him out by making him the Governor of Arizona Territory but he seldom showed up for the job in those three years and he was eventually fired. His wife supported them in their old age with her writing, John Fremont had nothing.

History in California and the west didn't begin with the arrival of Americans. I doubt Americans will be the final chapter in the history of these lands. Often our heroes are another man's villains. Such is life.

I don't hate John Fremont or John Sutter. I'm old but I never had the occasion to meet them. I don't hate Father Junipero Serra but I suspect he was a very bad man. I do dislike the California educational system that makes heroes of murderers and makes villains of simple miners and farmers. I think eventually California will stop all mining, farming, autos and electricity generation. At that point they might realize they have created a hell on earth where there was once a paradise. Or not.

Heavy Pans