Camping on my claims longer than 14 days

[N/A]

My buddy and I picked up 4 placer claims last year (we live in Alaska), all on one creek, 100 acres total and run the length of the creek which is about 1.25 miles. We all have full time jobs, medical appointments (yeah getting old sucks!!), gardens, its a 2.5 hour drive (one way) and other personal stuff going on which prevents us from being anything more than recreational, hobbyist prospectors.

The land is BLM/National Forest. The NF regs state no one can camp on "their" land for more than 14 days and no motorized vehicles without a notice of intent. The only area that is drivable is about 100' at the very beginning of the claims. Last year we were busy staking and didnt have much free time to work any of the claims so it wasnt an issue we thought about.

So we met up with the forest service people with a letter stating that our needs are to set up tents onsite so we dont need to spend half day setting up and another half day tearing down when we only have a few free days in our busy schedules. We also mentioned we would like to drive about 100' into the area to make loading/unloading easier and have a place to park or turnaround.

She handed us the Notice of Intent form which, in our eyes, was based around a full scale mining operation. We tried to explain that were are recreational prospector guys running up there in our free time, NOT big scale miners tearing everything up to pay our bills. Her tone of voice was as if were were criminals, asking about our equipment, how many holes we will dig while detecting, where we would we digging, if we plan on reacclimating the holes we dredge out in the creek, etc...

So my question to you guys/gals is have any of you gone through this before? Did we miss something? is this normal?

 

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[cudamark]

You may want to contact Steve Herschbach at Detector/Prospector.com. He's from Alaska and has done lots of mining there.

 

[russau]

You may want to read the 1872 ming laws about this ! Steve WOULD be a big help also and go to " My Land matters " and ask Barry ! Good luck The f.s. people have their own idea of how to use public land !

 

[Terry Soloman]

As a recreational miner that has spent 20+ days on BLM land hunting gold - The Forest Service NEVER comes looking for you, and if they did you only got there "three days ago." It is other miners that turn you in. You made a HUGE mistake going to the Forest Service looking for special permits. NEVER expose yourself. Now they have something to do - Watch You!

 

[N/A]

As a recreational miner that has spent 20+ days on BLM land hunting gold - The Forest Service NEVER comes looking for you, and if they did you only got there "three days ago." It is other miners that turn you in. You made a HUGE mistake going to the Forest Service looking for special permits. NEVER expose yourself. Now they have something to do - Watch You!

This started last year when my buddy and I called in claim jumpers on our neighbors claims. That call went to the claim owner, forest service, BLM and troopers. Claim owner was grateful and took the ball from us but as far as we know the jumpers are in jail for unrelated charges and no charges related to this case. That being said, the forest service called my buddy to get his story and ended the conversation with something along the lines of "how long have YOU had the claims and been up there? I hope you're not leaving gear up there cuz I'm going to check" - In our eyes it very quickly went from us being the good guys turning in bad guys, to us being the bad guys.

Over the years we have turned in jumpers and squatters so the forest service knows us to some extent. We read deeper into the regs and decided to get permission to keep our gear up there but now we feel like criminals and under investigation for things we never did or plan to do. We are going to follow through with the paperwork, probably get rejected and continue doing our recreational/hobby prospecting as before but without leaving gear up there as we hoped to do this season.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

There's no camping limit if you have an active mining operation.
Instead of asking unqualified govt workers about your mining rights, learn them for yourself.
Your mining rights don't involve asking their opinions or getting permission.

 

[N/A]

There's no camping limit if you have an active mining operation.
Instead of asking unqualified govt workers about your mining rights, learn them for yourself.
Your mining rights don't involve asking their opinions or getting permission.

I had to buy my claims from the govt. and get permissions/permits from other govt agencies and now USFS is the last step.

Please post where you got your information from, I would love to read all about it

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Oh I see your in Alaska. I never knew a guy needed permits or permission to camp there but who knows haha. That's some crazy stuff being there's so much open space there.
Maybe someday will be the new Alaskafornia!

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Here in CO we can camp anywhere in natl forest or blm without permits is what I mean.
Ive never heard of that before but it has nothing to do with the mining acts.

 

[N/A]

Here in CO we can camp anywhere in natl forest or blm without permits is what I mean.
Ive never heard of that before but it has nothing to do with the mining acts.

The permits are only required if you stay longer than 14 days. We also need a permit from DEC for waste water discharge, something from F&G, and the list goes on.

We already have too many californians up here ruining us but I'm a curmudgeon and dont like anybody coming up here because we are also very over populated

 

[Johnnybravo300]

I can't imagine that mining companies in Alaska have to reapply for permits every 14 days but crazier things have happened hehe.

Ive had to deal with claim jumpers before but that's an issue for the Sheriff, not forestry.
the forestry workers only manage the surface of the land.

 

[IDAu]

Doesn’t sound like NOI territory to me

 

[Johnnybravo300]

No there's no NOI needed for anything your doing.
You dont have a responsibility to report anything to Forestry or get permission to mine on your claim.

 

[N/A]

I can't imagine that mining companies in Alaska have to reapply for permits every 14 days but crazier things have happened hehe.

Ive had to deal with claim jumpers before but that's an issue for the Sheriff, not forestry.
the forestry workers only manage the surface of the land.

An approved permit is good for the year (Jan-Dec)

Doesn’t sound like NOI territory to me

We will be using motorized dredges so it does apply

No there's no NOI needed for anything your doing.
You dont have a responsibility to report anything to Forestry or get permission to mine on your claim.

Where did you get your information?

 

[Johnnybravo300]

The Mining Acts of 1872. You should check it out.
The rules were already written long ago.

 

[N/A]

The Mining Acts of 1872. You should check it out.
The rules were already written long ago.

I have read it and no place in there does it say we can do whatever we want and in fact the laws become more strict as time moves on. I dont agree with it but thats what happened. So yeah, if you want to camp longer than 14 days, use motorized passenger vehicles (in some areas), use earth moving equipment (dozer, back hoe etc...), leave gear up there longer than 14 days, you will need a permit from USFS. State mineral claims are different and I'm not familiar with those

 

[Tesorodeoro]

FIRST - You are not a recreational tourist. You are a low impact miner extracting the minerals you own and that’s how it should be presented if your questioned. If you are actively mining, I cannot imagine they would impose hours of operation.

HOWEVER - If you’re a recreational tourist and expecting to file a mining claim and reserve long term weekend camping spot by leaving a tent up all week and discouraging other AMERICANS from utilizing the forest, Good Luck.

I’m not aware of federal laws governing recreational mining activities on a legitimately owned un-patented mining claim.

 

[IDAu]

An approved permit is good for the year (Jan-Dec)

We will be using motorized dredges so it does apply

Where did you get your information?

Then you need an NOI to dredge. What does that have to do with camping?

Fyi I was in usfs a few days ago inquiring about dredging when I posted that, and the guy in charge said an NOI is not required for dredging provided you follow the recommendations.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

There's no reason to involve anyone until you are at the point of digging huge holes, diverting the flow or needing a settling pond, etc.
You will never create enough surface disturbance with hand tools or a dredge in a creek.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

There's no reason to involve anyone until you are at the point of digging huge holes, diverting the flow or needing a settling pond, etc.
You will never create enough surface disturbance with hand tools or a dredge in a creek.

Still a problem setting up a camp like you own the place if your only going to attend your claim MAYBE a little less than 2 days a week during the mining season. I see folks setting up camp at a local camping area along the river in the spring and leaving it set up till fall after hunting season. They must be well liked, because they are never around and the USFS has no issues. I think it’s arrogant and thoughtless.
Alaska is likely a much different place and I mean no disrespect.