Camping on my claims longer than 14 days

[Johnnybravo300]

Yeah i wouldn't leave a tent set up if I wasn't camping there. It would just end up rotting away and its easy to setup each time.
I leave things like house guttering, lumber and a few milk crates and some crap I don't want to carry back and forth but not camping gear.
Ive been unloading my Grand Cherokee and sleeping in the back with my dog the last few times.

 

[Tesorodeoro]

Yeah i wouldn't leave a tent set up if I wasn't camping there. It would just end up rotting away and its easy to setup each time.
I leave things like house guttering, lumber and a few milk crates and some crap I don't want to carry back and forth but not camping gear.
Ive been unloading my Grand Cherokee and sleeping in the back with my dog the last few times.

That Gold Basin area looks good for a SXS on GE. Really didn’t take long to fly there on GE from my location

 

[N/A]

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.

We do not need an NOI for dredging (less than 6") or camping BUT we will need a NOI if we plan on keeping gear up there for longer than 14 days. We also need permission to drive motorized vehicles on federal lands. Due to the location of our claims, this is a very grey area but we are still looking to get permission since we will only be driving on less than 75 feet of one end of the claim.

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.

We are finding that there is no real definition of "minimal surface disturbance" other than less than 5 acres. The way we are writing it will include the facts we do not plan on disturbing anywhere close to 5 acres. Dredging can go down to bedrock which is not always close to the surface. I know guys that have gone down over 10 feet. Heck, the usfs rep we talked to asked about reclamation on dredging holes. These people can be a major pain in our butts especially since they dont know anything about prospecting

 

[IDAu]

We do not need an NOI for dredging (less than 6") or camping BUT we will need a NOI if we plan on keeping gear up there for longer than 14 days. We also need permission to drive motorized vehicles on federal lands. Due to the location of our claims, this is a very grey area but we are still looking to get permission since we will only be driving on less than 75 feet of one end of the claim.

We are finding that there is no real definition of "minimal surface disturbance" other than less than 5 acres. The way we are writing it will include the facts we do not plan on disturbing anywhere close to 5 acres. Dredging can go down to bedrock which is not always close to the surface. I know guys that have gone down over 10 feet. Heck, the usfs rep we talked to asked about reclamation on dredging holes. These people can be a major pain in our butts especially since they dont know anything about prospecting

Do you happen to know what law you’re referencing? What I posted should be federal law. Is this a state camping law thing in Alaska?

The only thing I’m aware of is if you intend to put a more permanent structure on the site which requires an NOI and surety bond in case it’s abandoned.

As far as dredging the guy that’s in charge of the NOI at my USFS office said it’s out of their scope if it stays below the high water line and doesn’t alter the stream, as it doesn’t fall under “surface” management.

 

[N/A]

Do you happen to know what law you’re referencing? What I posted should be federal law. Is this a state camping law thing in Alaska?

The only thing I’m aware of is if you intend to put a more permanent structure on the site which requires an NOI and surety bond in case it’s abandoned.

As far as dredging the guy that’s in charge of the NOI at my USFS office said it’s out of their scope if it stays below the high water line and doesn’t alter the stream, as it doesn’t fall under “surface” management.

The 14 day rule/law is on all federal lands and in Alaska its also on state lands. A buddy of mine had a camper on his claim and they removed it stating it was a permanent structure. It was a small camper he pulled behind his jeep and he removed it at the end of every season.

Your last sentence is interesting. We were told not to dig into the banks, which is understandable, but she also asked about reclaimation after dredging. We later did more research and reclamation is not needed at the end of a season but is within 12 months of closing the claim.

We asked about claim jumpers doing damage which is outside of our control or responsibility. USFS will not interact with them (even when they are causing damage we are restricted from doing??) They told us to contact the state troopers to deal with jumpers. The troopers, for the most part, dont have any training or knowledge of claim jumpers and always defer to BLM or DNR or USFS, and all of them say "not my problem". Gold is over $3K/ounce now and we are expecting jumpers and with very limited cell service within a 20 mile or so radius, it can get tricky. SOS functions on our phones and GPS's are a big help but nothing like a uniformed trooper close by to encourage and or charge them with a crime.

 

[IDAu]

The 14 day rule/law is on all federal lands and in Alaska its also on state lands. A buddy of mine had a camper on his claim and they removed it stating it was a permanent structure. It was a small camper he pulled behind his jeep and he removed it at the end of every season.

Your last sentence is interesting. We were told not to dig into the banks, which is understandable, but she also asked about reclaimation after dredging. We later did more research and reclamation is not needed at the end of a season but is within 12 months of closing the claim.

We asked about claim jumpers doing damage which is outside of our control or responsibility. USFS will not interact with them (even when they are causing damage we are restricted from doing??) They told us to contact the state troopers to deal with jumpers. The troopers, for the most part, dont have any training or knowledge of claim jumpers and always defer to BLM or DNR or USFS, and all of them say "not my problem". Gold is over $3K/ounce now and we are expecting jumpers and with very limited cell service within a 20 mile or so radius, it can get tricky. SOS functions on our phones and GPS's are a big help but nothing like a uniformed trooper close by to encourage and or charge them with a crime.

Isn’t this fun? In the last few months of dealing with this the hardest part seems to be getting 3-4 agencies to all align.

For me, they said no NOI to dredge on USFS. However, DEQ and our state water resources dept have their own water regs and permits. Apparently they manage below the high water line. For reclamation, he said they like holes to be filled in-But no one does that because it will naturally fill in with the spring melt each year.

I have a consult with a mining law attorney coming up and will ask for clarification on camping. I can’t believe they took his camper and said it was permanent. What would the NOI/bond be for? To cover the cost of towing it if he abandons it? That seems Laughable.

 

[N/A]

Isn’t this fun? In the last few months of dealing with this the hardest part seems to be getting 3-4 agencies to all align.

For me, they said no NOI to dredge on USFS. However, DEQ and our state water resources dept have their own water regs and permits. Apparently they manage below the high water line. For reclamation, he said they like holes to be filled in-But no one does that because it will naturally fill in with the spring melt each year.

I have a consult with a mining law attorney coming up and will ask for clarification on camping. I can’t believe they took his camper and said it was permanent. What would the NOI/bond be for? To cover the cost of towing it if he abandons it? That seems Laughable.

We also needed a permit for waste water disposal which is $25 but easy to get.

The majority of claim owners, all the experienced ones, no longer get permits for any process because they have never been checked and dont know anyone who has been checked. Even the guy who had his camper towed will not go through the process.

Two years ago I reported a squatter on fed land to USFS. This guy was/is a tweeker and has an aggressive dog threatening people, we almost shot him and the dog but he backed down when he realized he was outnumbered. The forest rangers talked to him multiple times but never removed him. The state troopers somehow got ahold of his info and he had warrants out (which the forest rangers should have known and tased on to the troopers) so they drove up and removed the guy immediately and last known to be residing in jail someplace.

My point is it seems like usfs is more bark than bite

 

[Assembler]

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?

As pointed out you and your buddy "picked up 4 placer claims".
My question is what do you mean by "picked up claims" can you define the process involved?

You should look into the processes and requirements to mine on federal lands vary by mineral category, surface/subsurface management agencies, and estate ownership that is covered by Congress to start with.