Letters Needed to Protect Dredging in California

As you probably already know, the Karuk Tribe of California has persuaded certain of that state's legislators having a political greenish tinge to attach a rider to the 2008 California budget bill that would place a moratorium on the issuance of suction dredge permits. Were this tactic aimed at banning dredging for gold to succeed in California, it might give certain parties in our fair state (and elsewhere) ideas that could prove detrimental to the activities of us small-scale miners.

Therefore, it may well behoove us to help nip this particular threat in the bud while there is still time to do so. The best way to do that appears to be sending a message to Governor Schwartzenegger urging him to veto the rider. There are detailed instructions on how to do this as well as a sample text which you can copy/paste/modify or use as is at this link:

http://www.goldgold.com/legal/rider_actionalert08.htm

As of this writing, the California legislature has not agreed on a final budget bill but will probably do so sooner rather than later. Therefore, as is usual in matters such as this one, time is of the essence.