Ecological/Environmental Impact: What do you do to limit your impact?

[Rocksy34]

When out searching for gold, how many of you are conscious of your impact on the Environment? What are some techniques you use to reduce this impact?

 

[ClaimStake]

for the most part the main things I'm concerned about is trash, and refilling or breaking down the sides of a deep hole. so no animals get trapped, or people fall in and get hurt.

most other small scale things nature and time takes care of.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I pick up a lot of trash and pull a lot of lead out of the waterways (and a little Mercury) so my impact is positive. I'm not concerned, I'm PROUD!

 

[Clay Diggins]

When out searching for gold, how many of you are conscious of your impact on the Environment? What are some techniques you use to reduce this impact?

Searching for gold has very little impact on the environment. Less impact than California stream "remediation" and more impact than bird watching. I would put it somewhere around a little less impact than hunting fish for sport. Looking for gold doesn't result in dead fish or leave lead behind but it does require traversing the lands outside of established trails and taking something with you that you didn't start with.

Perhaps you were thinking of farming (food), roads construction and maintenance (transportation), building (homes and businesses), manufacturing (everything but food, roads) or mining (the minerals that grow your food and clothing, provide materials for roads, provide building materials, provide ALL the parts of your car/phone/computer and the machines/power plants/communications/tools/heating/cooling/refrigeration/water supply etc. that you use everyday)? All of those do have significant impacts. I personally am very aware of those impacts.

I see you capitalize the words "Environment" and "Ecological". Bad English but we don't really care about grammar or spelling here on Tnet. I assume you mean the natural physical non human Environment/Ecology and you are not referring to the human environment/ecology. "E" Stuff like owls and trees and dirt and wolves and fish not the "e" stuff of human comfort, safety and opportunity.

When you think about it almost all the things that have an impact on the Environment (and the environment too!) are about what humans want. Not what they need but what they want.

We want roads and cars and telephones and computers and clocks and television and fresh fruit and vegetables and shoes we want strong houses and electricity and refrigeration and air conditioning. All over the world people want a modern lifestyle. Cavemen didn't need any of those things and it would be a tough argument to say we "need" those things today. This isn't about need this is about a desire to participate in the progress that the human race has made in making life less of a hardship and more of an opportunity.

That brings us to your question of what do I personally do to reduce the impact of looking for gold. This is a personal question after all, no single person can answer this question for all people "looking for gold".

Of course there is always a price to pay for the things we want and the things we need. Really the question you ask needs to be applied to all those things people want. After all it's only in achieving a balance in the things we want and the price we pay for those things that we truly affect the ultimate impact we make on the Environment/environment Ecology/ecology.

Here's my personal take on that balance. If you want to have less impact on the physical Environment you need have less impact on the human environment. I personally have never even considered using a bulldozer blade to look for gold. On the other hand I'm pretty sure we both know people who would love to push a bulldozer blade around to look for their cat or go to MacDonalds. Less impact is better.

I don't own a television and I use about half the electricity my neighbors do. Does that make me a good guy and my neighbors bad guys? No. People are rated as good or bad in my world because of how they treat their fellow man. I value people by the human environment they create, not by how they look for gold or fish or drive their car.

In the end when it all comes down to need. I need food and shelter but more importantly I need good common sense reliable humans in my ecology to survive.

Do the ways other humans treat their physical Environment matter to me? Heck yeah. It's part of how I judge their character. Waste and wanton destruction don't lead to a good future for anyone. Who would want a community of pig pens? Who would want a future for their family that didn't include refrigeration and a variety of fresh foods?

Balance. Balance is the key. Obviously you used a computer or phone to make this post. Without gold no computer or phone. Obviously the right path for the human environment doesn't include no gold/silver/copper/gallium/etc. etc. mining. Obviously the right path for the human environment doesn't include destroying all the trees/animals/soil/water in an effort to get more gold. Balance.

So how do I honor my role as a prospector in the grand scheme of things? I look for the richest deposit that requires the least work and expense for the best return. I make the smallest footprint possible for the best result. That in a nutshell is the profession of looking for gold.

Nobody seriously mines for fun. I've never met another prospector that would prospect areas with no minerals for fun. I've never met a human that would rebury a one ounce gold nugget so the next prospector could have as much fun finding it as they did. Looking for gold is hard work and there are no prospectors that are going to create an Environmental/Ecological problem in the process of looking for gold. Solving problems and finding answers are what prospectors do. Simply put prospecting does not create Environmental or environmental issues that need techniques to reduce the impact. Drilling holes or digging samples are both activities that when done properly have no permanent effect on the Environment or Ecology.

As far as farming, roads, buildings, manufacturing and mining those things can and often do create permanent Environmental/Ecological impacts. Whether those impacts are worth the price is a valid question but simply looking for gold is not part of that question.

Heavy Pans

 

[russau]

Great post Clay!! I also try to "leave no foot print" or as close as it I can ! I also pickup trash when I run into it and haul it away. OR I hang it up where im dredgeing incase some wacoenviromentalists come up on me and start their little scripted rant about ruining the environment.....................then I point to the trash bag hanging on a tree or rock and ask ," This is what Ive done today to help cleanup the environment that your friends left! What have you done today to help cleanup the environment? They usually leave! I sometimes offer to show them how I help the environment and the stream and the fish. Most leave at that point .

 

[Hoser John]

I have a library full of studies that pronounce our efforts beneficial to the environment especially dredging. But with the millions put forth by the radical environutz agenda it has been convoluted into a pile of lies that is being fed to our kids,gkids and beyond. sic sic sic sad state of affairs as the absolute only way to free up impacted gravels cemented in place by extended drought is.....DREDGING to reclaim the fishs' ability to spawn. Which I proved to CDFG on Clear Creek in the 90s to start the Clear Creek Restoration project with MY 250+ cubic yards of minus 5" gravel spawning beds done for FREE.....John

 

[Oakview2]

John, beneficial for the fish and the habitat, for Fish and Shame and for you. Last I checked the State Consititution still considers the use of water in mining as a Beneficial Use. Oh well he worries about a constitution anymore :-(

 

[Capt Nemo]

I only mine the area between the waterline and the grassline on beaches. No disruption of any plants. Solar electric power. All tailings used to fill the hole, and the next storm washes the area back to a natural state. Trash gets packed.

 

[goldenIrishman]

My simple rules....
1. Clear out any trash left by others
2. Pack out EVERYTHING I brought in with me
3. Fill in all holes even if they are not mine.
4. Avoid gas power unless there's no other way. Solar is cleaner and quieter!
5. When interacting with other users of the public lands, be nice and try to teach them the truth about small scale mining activities. We have been fighting a bad image of mining that has for the most part been thanks to the environutz and their agenda. The more we can show their followers that mining and stewardship of the lands and waters of this country can go hand in hand, the better off we will all be.

 

[gold tramp]

I like miner graffitti (holes)
GT............

 

[Rocksy34]

Clay Diggins - Nice post, thank you for your input. I am curious about these matters, just starting out. Besides what has been mentioned here, a concern of mine is erosion. I've seen the impact of fossil hunters before and know erosion can be an issue. Now as for the grammar, well, let's just say I used the it appropriately. The words of concern were in the title, for one thing, and therefore capitalization is appropriate. Second, there is no difference between the environment that includes animals and the environment that includes humans. Humans are animals after all, we are all a part of nature. So the capitalization is there to indicate the Environment, as in the larger Natural World. Surprisingly I am educated! Ha. My point being if grammar is not an issue to you, then there is no need to make it one. Reading your comment was pleasant until I came to this part. I hope that this site can remain enjoyable for all of us. On a different note, you seem very experienced and I am grateful that you are here to share information. Keep up the good work and thank you for caring.

 

[ClaimStake]

great post clay.

the best way to deal with erosion or large holes, is to cover or backfill with deadfall (logs/brush) anything that will compost and create topsoil.

logs do wonders for an eroding hill. especially if you tie them together with some hemp/cotton/twine rope. don't use non degradable plastic.

when our lake here gets low Park&Rec. lays whole trees around it tied together with chains.

 

[Rocksy34]

great post clay.

the best way to deal with erosion or large holes, is to cover or backfill with deadfall (logs/brush) anything that will compost and create topsoil.

logs do wonders for an eroding hill. especially if you tie them together with some hemp/cotton/twine rope. don't use non degradable plastic.

when our lake here gets low Park&Rec. lays whole trees around it tied together with chains.

Super helpful post Claim Stake. Thank you. May I ask how much bio-rope you carry for such instances?

 

[Tuberale]

I grow mycorrhizal fungi, which concentrate heavy metals (cadmium, lead, mercury, as well as others). Then just pick up the sporocarps (fruit bodies) and smelt them to remove the metals. Simple, no?

 

[ClaimStake]

Super helpful post Claim Stake. Thank you. May I ask how much bio-rope you carry for such instances?

so far I haven't had a case of needing erosion control. I do like to use hemp for pulling hoisting and just about anything else I would use a rope for.

"except climbing"

I always use a fresh synthetic nylon rope that I've inspected for anything involving me.

 

[Rocksy34]

I laughed at "except climbing". That is understandable.

 

[utah mason]

One of the most used things in my prospecting pack it the trash bags. I find the majority of the trash on the side of the trail. Once I get down to the river there's usually not much trash. The exception being when I'm below the dam at A.F. then there's always plenty to pick up. The most common thing is flip flops. One day I picked up 4 different ones. As far as filling in holes, if I'm planning on coming back to that spot soon I don't worry about it. Although the river will fill it in for me a lot of times

 

[DizzyDigger]

May I ask how much bio-rope you carry for such instances?

"Bio-rope"....

Never heard of the stuff...is that what environmentalists use when rock climbing?

 

[mikep691]

Since it's my right to mine anyway I can to remove precious metals, That's what I do. Most is washing every pebble in the creek bed that sits on top of the bedrock. We remove all the lead (mostly in the form of buckshot), and any mercury (usually attached to gold).We pick it up here, <--- and put it there-------->. Just a little cleaner when it gets there----->

 

[ClaimStake]

"Bio-rope"....

Never heard of the stuff...is that what environmentalists use when rock climbing?

lol,
hemp, cotton, twine, bioplastics. anything that degrades.