More Mining Troubles In Oregon

Those of you who have been following the "Miner Dave" saga (see here, here, here, and here) may be chagrined to hear of another Oregon miner who appears to be under attack by agencies of the federal government.  The following is the text of an email I just received from a fellow miner who has provided reliable information in the past:

This is hot off the press and I want it to go viral. My mining partner down in John Day,Oregon called this morning and said he had just gotten a letter from the BLM at John Day and they had given him 90 days to get everything off the claim. This includes two very old cabins. They are over one hundred years old and are part of the antiquities Act. Mark (Pengelly) has had nothing but grief from the BLM since he tried to mine his claim. He has complied with all their wishes up till now and cleaned the area till it looks like a park but they have not backed off one bit. He took out a bond like they wanted  and complied with ever one of their wishes but still they harass him.

He has had many things stolen off the claim, They told him he could not stay in the cabins to protect his property and kicked him out. There has been much vandalism to the claim and I have had personal things of mine stolen off the claim too but they don't patrol for the thieves so we finally got the sheriff to patrol the area. At one time vandals drove their 4x4's through the kitchen and into the living room causing thousands in damage and the Forest Service and BLM did nothing but give lip service. Is this going to happen to all of us that have machinery and cabins on our valid claims??????????????

This act of causing Mark to remove the cabins is a felony in itself and is punishable by a ten year prison sentence and a big fine for destroying two cabins that are part of the Antiquities Act. I am suspecting entrapment by the BLM if Mark does remove them. If he doesn't remove them they are threatening him with doing it themselves and then charging Mark for the removal. Our government has grown rotten to it's very core and we as miners are going to have to put our feet down on this!

Episodes like the one above and the "Miner Dave" story make me wonder how these actions by the USFS and the BLM can possibly be consistent with the "national mining and minerals policy" set forth in §21a of the Mining Law of 1872, as amended:


The Congress declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government in the national interest to foster and encourage private enterprise in...the development of economically sound and stable domestic mining, minerals, metal and mineral reclamation industries.  (Emphasis added.)

Perhaps someone should remind the heads of the offending agencies of their responsibility to compel their subordinates to obey the law?  And if that reminder be met with a general refusal, are we then to conclude that we are on our own in looking out for ourselves and each other against the depredations of a government gone rogue?

Stay tuned.