HPA Fee Bill Introduced in Senate

As reported here and here, the Washington State Legislature is considering legislation that would impose a $150 fee for a Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA) application.

SB 6011 is the companion to HB 2135 that would impose this fee.  Like its House counterpart, the Senate bill was introduced at the request of the Department of Fish and Wildlife by sponsors Ranker, Hargrove and Shin.

SB 6011 had its first reading on January 9 and was referred to the Energy, Natural Resources & Marine Waters committee.  HB 2135 remains in the House Committee on Ways & Means.

It will pay to watch these bills closely as public hearings tend to be scheduled with very little advance notice.

"Unraveling Federal Jurisdiction within a State" - Sheriff Gil Gilbertson

The title of this post is taken from the title of a report written by Josephine County, Oregon Sheriff Gil Gilbertson who has been involved in a "clash" with the U.S. Forest Service regarding the latter agency's law enforcement efforts within his county.  (Sheriff Gilbertson's actions as they relate to the mining community have been mentioned previously on this blog here, here, and here.)

According to Sarah Foster, writing in Oregon Sheriff Gil Gilbertson Continues Stand Against U.S. Forest Service at NWV News, Gilbertson's report is,

... a “must read” for anyone concerned about infringements against the 10th Amendment and federal encroachments in general – like road closures, Wild Lands and Monument designations, mining and other resource uses. In other words, this is for anyone and everybody with an interest – no matter how casual -- in accessing the public lands, either as a “resource user” (a rancher or miner) or simply a casual vacationer who enjoys weekend camping. 

Sections of the report do deal with mining, in particular these paragraphs from page 10:

“Public land” that is disposed by claims under the act of 1872 becomes “Public Domain”. “The locators of all mining locations made on any mineral vein, lode, or ledge, situated on the public domain, their heirs and assigns, w(h)ere no adverse claim existed on the 10th day of May 1872 so long as they comply with the laws of the United States, and with State, territorial, and local regulations not in conflict with the laws of the United States governing their possessory title, shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations.” 

The mechanics of what happens to the “public land’ once found to be mineral in character is expressly evidenced in the Organic Act of 1897, that “any public lands embraced within the limits of any forest reservation which…” “…shall be found better adapted for mining or for agricultural purposes than for forest usage, may be restored to the public domain.” By private settlement under various land disposal laws of the United States, such as the Mining Law of 1872, “public land” is restored to the public domain. 
 
The federal agencies have management authority only  over  “public land”,  not privately settled  public domain. The act of location restores the land to public domain and the mining law provides the locator of such segregation “shall have the exclusive right of possession and enjoyment of all the surface included within the lines of their locations”
 
Federal mining claims are “private property”
 
“but so long as he complies with the provisions of the mining laws his possessory right, for all practical purposes of ownership, is as good as though secured by patent.”

“All mining claims, whether quartz or placer, are real estate. The owner of the possessory right thereto has a legal estate therein with the meaning of ORS 105.005”

Setting the required boundaries of a mining claim literally sets a boundary describing land separate and distinct from agency authority placing the land under the exclusive authority and jurisdiction of the locator. This interest is also stated as case law and Forest Service Manual details.


And in this paragraph from page 11:


No section of the FLPMA (Federal Lands Policy and Management Act - 1976) and, therefore, no Forest Service authority may impair or amend locator’s rights under the act of 1872.  Further that, “no provision of this section or any other section of this Act (FLPMA) shall in any way amend the Mining Law of 1872 or impair the rights of any locators or claims under that Act, including, but not limited to, rights of ingress and egress” 


To get the full picture of Sheriff Gilbertson's research, one should read the entire 13 page report which is available as a .pdf here:  Unraveling Federal Jurisdiction within a State.

New Publications From WDGER

The Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources has announced the availability of the following publications:


Open File Report 2011-1. Geologic map of the Monroe 7.5-minute quadrangle, King and Snohomish Counties, Washington, by J. D. Dragovich, M. L. Anderson, S. A. Mahan, C. J. Koger, J. H. Saltonstall, J. H. MacDonald Jr., G. R. Wessel, B. A. Stoker, J. P. Bethel, J. E. Labadie, Recep Cakir, J. D. Bowman, and S. A. DuFrane. 2011. 42 x 36 in. color sheet, scale 1:24,000, with 24 p. text. (Available online only, at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ofr2011-1_geol_map_monroe_24k.zip [15.6 MB])

Open File Report 2011-2. Analytical data from the Monroe 7.5-minute quadrangle, King and Snohomish Counties, Washington—Supplement to Open File Report 2011-1, by J. D. Dragovich, S. A. Mahan, M. L. Anderson, J. H. MacDonald Jr., G. R. Wessel, S. A. DuFrane, Recep Cakir, J. D. Bowman, and H. A. Littke. 2011. 61 p., 2 plates, and 2 Microsoft Excel files. (Available online only, at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/publications/ger_ofr2011-2_monroe_supplement.zip [34.6 MB])

Hearing on HPA Fee Bill Tomorrow!

Yes, that's right folks.  The House Committee on Ways & Means has scheduled a public hearing on HB 2135, the bill that would establish a $150 application fee for an HPA as reported earlier here.


The hearing is to take place in the John L. O'Brien Building, House Hearing Rm A, Olympia, WA tomorrow, December 6, at 10:00 AM...unless changed by the legislature before then.


It seems to this observer that, if these people really represented us, as they claim to do, they would actively seek our input instead of setting up so-called "public hearings" on such short notice that the public is effectively precluded from attending.  But, I digress.


More on this unfolding travesty as it occurs.

Are HPA Fees On The Way?

Here we go again!

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has, through the offices of Representatives Zack Hudgins and Ross Hunter, introduced HB 2135, a bill which, if passed and signed into law, would allow WDFW to "charge  a  one  hundred  fifty  dollar application  fee  for  all  applications  for  hydraulic  project  permits under  this  chapter  to  recover  the  costs  for  processing  permit applications."

Needless to say, since the recently approved beach mining requires an HPA, it would cost $150 just to apply to go gold panning at the ocean if this bill is enacted, making the activity prohibitively expensive.  Can you say, "Hard won, easily lost?"

Please feel free to use the links above to contact Representatives Hudgins and Hunter, if you are so inclined, and to read the text of the bill and follow its progress in the legislature.  At the moment, the bill is in the House Ways & Means Committee.

Who's Watching Us?

Ever since the South West Oregon Mining Association (SWOMA) published this article on their website detailing the variety of state and federal agencies that are monitoring their online activities, I've been wondering who's watching WSM?

I don't normally concern myself with the demographics of visitors to this site, although perhaps I should. Anyway, I decided to check on who's been dropping by lately.  Among our visitors in the last 2 weeks:

Washington State DNR - 1 visit

Click to enlarge.

Headquarters United States Army Information Systems Command - 6 visits

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Federal Aviation Administration - 5 visits

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BLM - 4 visits

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Department Of Homeland Security - 1 visit

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WDFW - 4 visits

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State Of New Mexico - 1 visit

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Visits by some of these agencies, like DNR, BLM, and WDFW, I can understand.  But the Army?  The FAA?  (Seen any airborne suction dredges lately?)  And the Department of Homeland Security?  (YIKES!  This is getting scary!)

Hopefully I haven't frightened away too many of my readers.  Because maybe these are just visits by folks interested in getting out into the great outdoors and panning a few flakes of our favorite yellow metal?  We can hope so, anyway.

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.

PLSS And USGS Quadrangle Data In Google Earth

PLSS (Public Land Survey System) and USGS Quadrangle locations are now available in Google Earth with free plug-ins courtesy of Metzger+Willard, Inc.

If you've ever needed to know the section, township, and range in which a certain geographical feature is located, you can now see this information as an overlay in Google Earth thanks to the PLSGE plug-in described on this page which also contains the download link.

Likewise, if you need to know which USGS Quadrangle map covers your area of interest, download and install the QUADS plug-in described on this page where you will also find the download link.

Metzger+Willard also have other free Google Earth plug-ins listed on their Earth Survey page.  But the two mentioned above appeared to me to be the most useful for prospectors and miners.  Links for both plug-ins are also available in the MAPPING APPLICATIONS & ONLINE SPATIAL DATA section of the Resources for Prospectors portion of the right-hand sidebar on this page.

Ocean Beach Mining Opens Sunday

As reported here, ocean beach mining opens Sunday, October 9, for small-scale placer operations.  Remember, you need an individual HPA in hand before you can placer mine on the beaches as the Gold and Fish Pamphlet does NOT fulfill this requirement.  (Why miners need an HPA to dig holes in the sand but clam harvesters and sand castle architects do not is beyond me.)

The areas open to mining are in the Seashore Conservation Area which is defined in RCW 79A.05.605 as

...all lands now or hereafter under state ownership or control lying between Cape Disappointment and Leadbetter Point; between Toke Point and the South jetty on Point Chehalis; and between Damon Point and the Makah Indian Reservation and occupying the area between the line of ordinary high tide and the line of extreme low tide, as these lines now are or may hereafter be located, and, where applicable, between the Seashore Conservation Line, as established by survey of the Washington state parks and recreation commission and the line of extreme low tide, as these lines now are or may hereafter be located; and shall also include all state-owned nontrust accreted lands along the ocean: PROVIDED, That no such conservation area shall include any lands within the established boundaries of any Indian reservation.

Precisely where these "lands now or hereafter under state ownership or control" which are open to mining lie is unknown to this writer and may take some research in the property records of Clallam, Grey's Harbor, Jefferson, and Pacific counties to determine.  I have heard that the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has a map or maps showing which areas are open to mining but this writer has yet to locate a copy.  In any event, here is a map taken from Handbook For Gold Prospectors In Washington by Wayne S. Moen and Marshall T. Huntting, Information Circular 57, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Division of Geology and Earth Resources, 1975, page 36, showing where gold was found in beach deposits in the past.  (NOTE:  The locations shown below are for historical information only and are NOT necessarily open for prospecting under the new rules.  Check the appropriate land ownership or WDFW map records - if they exist - before mining.)

Historical Beach Placer Locations (Click to enlarge.)

The following placers numbered on the map above are described in Information Circular 57:

1 - Shi Shi Beach:  Beach between Portage Head and Point of Arches in Sections 18, 19, and 30 Township 32N Range 15W.  Beach deposit in which a thin layer of fine heavy sand rests on a wave-cut terrace in sandstone overlain by 1 to 3 feet of gravel and sand.  Gold and platinum are found in the thin layer and in cracks in the bedrock.

2 - Ozette Beach:  Section 12 Township 31N Range 16W.  Beach deposit of gold and platinum concentrated along surface of a wave-cut terrace in sandstone.

3 - Little Wink:  Center S½SW¼ Section 1 Township 30N Range 16W.  Reworked Pleistocene gravels in a beach placer.

4 - Morgan:  NW¼NW¼NE¼ Section 12 Township 30N Range 16W.  Reworked Pleistocene gravels at high-tide level.

5 - Morrow:  SW¼SW¼ Section 18 Township 30N Range 15W.  Beach deposit in which there is a 2-foot layer of gravel reworked by wave action from Pleistocene gravel.  Spotty fine gold content averaged $4.00 per cubic yard at $20 gold.

6 - Yellow Banks:  2 miles south of Sand Point in SW¼ Section 18 Township 30N Range 15W.  Beach deposit of gold and platinum concentrated on surface of a wave-cut terrace in Pleistocene drift.

7 - Main and Bartnes:  NW¼NW¼ Section 19 Township 30N Range 15W.  Sand and gravel cemented by clay and iron oxide.

8 - Johnson Point:  NW¼ Section 5 Township 28N Range 15W.  Beach placers and gold in Pleistocene deposits of the bench adjacent.  Some pans of sand ran as high as 60 cents Au and some panners recovered $2 to $10 per day at $20 gold.

9 - Cedar Creek:  Near mouth of Cedar Creek in E½ Section 18 Township 29N Range 15W.  Gold and platinum occur in a beach placer in a 2- to 15-inch sand layer on the surface of a wave-cut beach in clay.  The sand layer is said to be 400 feet long and 100 feet wide at low tide.  Said to yield from 2 to 5 pennyweights of gold and platinum per cubic yard.  Ratio of Pt to Au ranges from 1:5 to 1:15.

10 - Sunset Creek:  Section 19 Township 29N Range 15W.

11 - Ruby Beach:  E½NE¼ Section 31 Township 26N Range 13W.  On tombolo (a sand bar connecting an island to the mainland or to another island) between Abbey Island and Ruby Beach.  Very fine grained gold in beach sand.

12 - Moclips River:  Section 8 Township 20N Range 12W.

13 - Oyhut:  On ocean beach at Oyhut.  Beach placer. Assays 72 cents gold per ton at $20 gold.

14 - Point Brown:  Sections 15 and 23 Township17N Range 12W.

15 - Ocean Park:  Ocean beach at Ocean Park.  87 cents gold per ton at $20 gold.

16 - Fort Canby:  Mouth of Columbia River near Fort Canby.  Sand.  81 cents gold per ton at $20 gold.

17 - Sand Island:  Island at mouth of Columbia River just south of Ilwaco.  Sand.  $1.51 gold per ton at $20 gold.

See Information Circular 57 at the link above for more details.

Beach Mining Rules Effective October 9 -- HPA REQUIRED!

The new beach mining rules adopted by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission on August 11 will take effect on Sunday, October 9, 2011, according to the Southwest Region Office.

Remember: WDFW still requires you to obtain a separate HPA for beach mining activities conducted under the new WAC rules as the Gold and Fish Pamphlet does not apply to the ocean beaches. From the relevant WDFW webpage:

Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission has adopted rules that allow prospecting on ocean beaches. Because that agency adopted their own rules about beach prospecting, I don't need a permit from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, do I? Yes. The rules adopted by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission allowing certain beach prospecting activities are in addition to WDFW's permitting requirements. Because prospecting in marine waters is not covered by the Gold and Fish pamphlet, you must apply for, and be issued, an individual HPA to legally prospect on ocean beaches.

If you are planning on doing any beach prospecting this fall, you should apply for your HPA as soon as possible as some time is involved in WDFW issuing these permits.  The necessary application and instructions are available online at http://www.epermitting.org/.

Make Your Own Black Sand Magnet

You can make your own black sand magnet for aiding in gold recovery using a plastic 35mm film cassette can, a piece of wire, and a magnet that will fit inside the film can.

To make mine, I used a small but powerful magnet I had in my junk box. Although it has a convenient loop at one end for attaching the wire, you may need to get a bit creative if your magnet has a different design. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the film can just large enough for the wire to pass through. The parts ready for assembly are shown below:

(Note: I recommend drilling the hole in the cap instead of in the bottom of the film can as with the latter arrangement very fine particles of black sand work their way under the cap and onto the magnet itself.)

With the wire pushed through the drilled hole in the film can, form a loop in it as shown below so that the magnet can be raised and lowered inside the can:

Attach the cap to the can to complete the assembly as shown below:

To use your new magnet, spread your black-sand-containing concentrate more-or-less evenly over the bottom of a gold pan under an inch or so of water. Keep the magnet above the concentrate while moving it in a circular motion. If you get the magnet too low or into the sand, the magnetic particles will clump and can entrap pieces of gold. As you work, you will notice the concentrate becoming lighter in color in the areas where the magnetic black sand particles have been removed.

Every few moments, withdraw the magnet from the concentrate pan. You will notice an accumulation of black sand on the bottom of the film container.

Next, position the magnet in the water in a second gold pan which will serve to collect the magnetic sand removed from the concentrate pan. Release the black sand into the pan by pulling up on the wire to raise the magnet inside the film can.

Each time you drop a load of black sand into the second gold pan, you should check it to be sure no gold particles were trapped within it. When you are satisfied that you have only black sand in the pan, you can dispose of that material as you normally do with your tailings. The second pan should now be empty (except for the water) and ready to receive the next load of black sand.

When you are no longer getting black sand on the magnet assembly from your concentrate pan, you are finished with this stage of the separation process. You will probably notice a considerable reduction in the amount of concentrate remaining in your pan, depending on how much magnetic black sand it contained, and may even see some gold pieces amid the remaining material, as on the right and bottom of the image below:

As always, happy prospecting!

New Publications From WDGER

The Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources has announced the following publications:

Information Circular 112.  Inactive and abandoned mine lands--Ruby Hill Mining District, Okanogan County, Washington, by F. E. Wolff, D. T. McKay, and D. K. Norman. 2011. 35 p. (Available online only, at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_ic112_iaml_ruby_hill.pdf [59.8 MB])

Also, please be aware of corrections to the following publication:

Open File Report 2010-3 [revised 2011].  Geologic map of the Skokomish Valley and Union 7.5-minute quadrangles, Mason County, Washington, by Michael Polenz, J. L. Czajkowski, Gabriel Legorreta Paulin, T. A. Contreras, B. A. Miller, M. E. Martin, T. J. Walsh, R. L. Logan, R. J. Carson, C. N. Johnson, R. H. Skov, S. A. Mahan, and C. R. Cohan. 2010 [revised 2011]. 42 x 36 in. color sheet, scale 1:24,000, with 21 p. text. (Available online only, at http://www.dnr.wa.gov/Publications/ger_ofr2010-3_geol_map_skokomish_valley_union_24k.zip [38.2 MB])

Errata for Open File Report 2010-3:  The name of Holocene ‘alluvium’ (units Qa(m) and Qo(am)) was changed to ‘marine deltaic alluvium’ to distinguish it from unit Qa. The unit labels and colors of units Qoa (Holocene to latest Pleistocene alluvium) and Qao (uppermost Olympic-source recessional outwash) were inadvertently switched on the map legend. This has been corrected. Kasper van Wijk has been added as fourth author to Lamb (2009). Corrections were made to the online file on August 8, 2011.