Mining Districts: The Old Becomes New Again

Mining districts once constituted a bulwark for the organized protection of miners' rights.  After reading the ICMJ's Prospecting and Mining Journal article linked here, it appears they are poised to do so once again.  As the article above tells it, miners in southwestern Oregon have revived the late 19th-early 20th century institution of the mining district in order to more effectively organize their resistance to the increasing attacks coming from federal, state, environmentalist, and tribal sources.  Instrumental in this revival is the South West Oregon Mining Association (SWOMA).

According to the SWOMA website, the Jefferson Mining District was officially created on September 2, 2011 (see document and map here) following several meetings and a vote by the miners.  A couple of the assaults on miners' rights prompting the creation of the District include illegal road closures and the potential sealing of "inactive mines" (defined as "ANY mine without an approved Plan of Operations") as though they were abandoned mine lands.

Mining districts were common in Washington in the early 20th Century as shown in this 1912 map from Bulletin 507, The Mining Districts of the Western United States by James M. Hill:

Washington State Mining Districts in 1912 (Click to enlarge.)

As illustrated above, there were some 59 mining districts in Washington in those days.  Could they be revived?  And would doing so benefit local miners?  Given the recent activity in southwestern Oregon, the answers to both questions would seem to be, "yes!"  What can work in Oregon can work in Washington.  In particular, the SWOMA website linked above contains ample information for anyone wanting a "blueprint" of how to form a mining district.

Washington miners should take heed of this opportunity rather than remain complacent in the face of increasing threats to their occupation, for what government and environmentalists have done to miners in Oregon (and elsewhere) they can do to miners anywhere, including Washington.

The SWOMA website is linked both in this post and in the right-hand sidebar of this page under "Clubs and Organizations" for those interested in researching the formation of a mining district.