WDFW Announces New Proposed Prospecting Rules

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has announced new proposed rules for mineral prospecting in Washington State. The Department will accept comments on the proposed rules until September 26.

For details, visit the Department's web page here:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/hab/goldfish/mineral_prospect.htm

A .pdf file containing the text of the proposed rules may be accessed here:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/hab/goldfish/2008_proposed_prospecting_rules.pdf

New Proposed Prospecting Rules for Washington Released

Here is the latest news from WDFW regarding the new proposed mineral prospecting rules:

From: Pat Chapman

Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 8:28 AM

Subject: Proposed mineral prospecting rules filed with Office of the CodeReviser

Mineral Prospecting Rule Development Workgroup:

Please distribute this message to anyone you think might be interested in commenting on proposed rules for mineral prospecting.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has filed proposed rules for mineral prospecting with the Office of the Code Reviser. The proposed rules will be published on September 3, 2008 in the Washington State Register. The official public comment period begins with publication in the register on September 3, and WDFW will accept comments through September 26, 2008. Comments WDFW receives before the official public comment period will be accepted provided they are sent to the following:

Lisa Wood

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife

600 Capitol Way N.

Olympia, WA 98501-1091

email: sepadesk@dfw.wa.gov

FAX: (360) 902-2946

We will be posting the proposed rules on WDFW's Habitat internet page soon. On October 3 or 4, 2008 WDFW will present the proposed rules, any adjustments to them warranted by comments, and a synopsis of the comments we have received from the public to the Fish and Wildlife Commission at their meeting in Ellensburg. The Commission will accept further public comments at that meeting. Likely at the Commission’s November meeting they will vote on adopting the rules.

You may view the Washington State Register at: http://www.leg.wa.gov/CodeReviser/Washington+State+Register/

WDFW's Habitat internet pages for mineral prospecting can be viewed at:

http://wdfw.wa.gov/hab/goldfish/goldfish.htm

Pat Chapman
Regulatory Services Coordinator
Habitat Program
Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
600 Capitol Way N.
Olympia WA 98501-1091
(360) 902-2571
(360) 902-2946 FAX
chapmpfc@dfw.wa.gov

In addition to the above message, a reliable source has also provided the following pertinent documents:

Proposed Rule Making notice filed with the Office of the Code Reviser
Final Draft of Proposed Mineral Prospecting Rules, Part I
Final Draft of Proposed Mineral Prospecting Rules, Part II

The above links will allow you to view or download these documents as .pdf files.

As the message from Pat Chapman at the beginning of this post states, the deadline for comments on these proposed rules is September 26. This is our chance to get a set of rules we can live with so let's let the good folks at WDFW in Olympia hear from us.

Free Topo Maps of the US and Canada

If you have any use for topographic maps from the USGS, USFS, and Natural Resource Canada, check out Free Printable Topo Maps (http://www.digital-topo-maps.com/).

Getting the maps is easy. You just zoom in to your area of interest in "Map" view (which shows a road map), switch to "My Topo" view, and select the topo zoom level you want. Then click on either "Landscape" or "Portrait" next to "Print from your computer:" located below the map image. A new window will open containing your map. The map of Horseshoe Bend on the Sultan River shown below was captured by right-clicking on the map in this new window and selecting "Save image as..." from the drop-down menu. (Note: The real image measures 1800x1200 pixels and is much more detailed than Blogger's scaled-down view shown here.)



The "Hybrid" view button next to the "My Topo" button shows a satellite image with a road map overlay. Both "Map" and "Hybrid" appear to work for anywhere in the world but "My Topo" only displays results for the US and Canada.

For ease of reference, I have added the link to Free Printable Topo Maps to the "Resources for Prospectors" section of the right-hand sidebar.

Prospecting Information at "Chris' Prospecting Encyclopedia"

In the course of wandering around the World Wide Web I came across a site called Chris' Prospecting Encyclopedia that contains a rather large amount of information covering various aspects of gold prospecting. Although a lot of the material here is geared for California and the Southwest, there is still a great deal of knowledge that would be useful anywhere.

Many of you may already know of this site (which is hosted at nevada-outback-gems.com) but, for those who don't, I've added the link to the "Resources for Prospectors" section in the right-hand sidebar.

Enjoy.

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.

Yea Summer!

It's that time of year again and I finally got out to play with my sluice box.

That's me feeding classified aggregate into the flare:














After running about a tenth of a cubic yard of material (it was really hard digging!), here is the result:














Oh, well! That big nugget is still out there somewhere.

Hope everyone is having a good summer.

Odds and Ends

Things seem rather quiet. Our State Legislature has adjourned without taking any further action on HB2871 decriminalizing violations of the Gold and Fish Pamphlet; WDFW has a new PDF document on their website titled Freshwater Mussels of the Similkameen River; other than that, I could not find anything about the new proposed prospecting regulations or the status of applying for an HPA for beach mining.

Turning to other matters, I have added a link to the Northwest Mining Association website under Clubs and Organizations on the right-hand sidebar. Also, the link for the Washington Prospectors Mining Association is still producing gibberish.

Looking ahead, general work times begin June 1 in Benton, Kittitas, San Juan (Is there anyplace to prospect there?), and Yakima Counties as well as on the Columbia and Snake Rivers for Special Class I. Check your Gold and Fish Pamphlet for details. Hooray for summer!

Mining Reform "Stalled"; Solons Unhappy

According to an article in yesterday's Las Vegas Review-Journal, a collectivist-environmentalist claque of ten anti-mining U. S. Senators (which includes Washington's own Maria Cantwell) has sent a missive to the chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in an apparent effort to stimulate creation of a Senate version of mining reform legislation similar to the bill (H.R. 2262) passed by the House of Representatives last November. According to the newspaper, the House bill is quite "dead" in the Senate, if not quite buried, and the afore-mentioned solons are most unhappy that their efforts at "mining reform" seem "stalled."

There is some indication in the story that saner heads may prevail in the drafting of a Senate bill.

You can read the article for yourself by clicking on the link above.

We shall see in due course how this all pans out.

Forest Service Solicits Comments on Proposed Rules for Locatable Minerals Operations

The U.S. Forest Service is soliciting public comments on proposed revisions to the rules regulating locatable minerals operations on National Forest Lands.

According to the Forest Service's notice published in the Federal Register for 25 March 2008, "The revised rule would apply to prospecting, exploration, development, mining and processing operations, and reclamation under the Mining Law of May 10, 1872, as amended."

Comments may be submitted until 27 May 2008.

For full details on the proposed revisions and on how to submit comments, see the entry in the Federal Register here.

Note to my readers:

I will be away from a computer for the next week as a result of which there will be no postings during this time.

I shall make every effort to "catch up" on any pertinent news upon my return.

In the meantime, thank you for your understanding.

Back to Square One on New "Gold and Fish" Rules

Washington State's Department of Fish and Wildlife has officially withdrawn the latest proposed mineral prospecting rules in the wake of written comments received from the public.

According to the department's website, WDFW will propose new rules and will be accepting public comments on them as soon as they are published; reportedly "soon".

The pertinent web page may be accessed here and the official letter of withdrawal to the Office of the Code Reviser here.

Pan for Gold at the Beach This Summer?

On 20 March 2008, Governor Gregoire signed SB 6343 into law. This law, which takes effect on 12 June 2008, requires the State Parks and Recreation Commission and the Department of Fish and Wildlife to establish a pilot program to allow small scale prospecting and mining on Washington's ocean beaches beginning 1 July 2008.

The law requires the establishment of at least three demonstration areas located between the southern border of Cape Disappointment State Park and the southern border of the Quinault Indian Reservation. Furthermore, these areas must be 1) located in separate areas along the coast; 2) located in areas suitable for small scale prospecting; and 3) located in areas having minimal potential for damage to the beach environment, birds, shellfish, other beach marine life, fish habitat, and other recreational use.

The law further requires the Department of Fish and Wildlife to issue individual hydraulic project approval permits for small scale prospecting within the demonstration areas. Hopefully, WDFW will provide details on applying for these HPAs in the not too distant future.

The text of the bill as signed into law may be read here.