578 (1928 withdrawal) withdrew areas from entry and location under the mining laws. Forest Service has just posted this on its site: All mining operations (location of mining claims, prospecting, and mining, including panning, sluicing, and dredging) under the 1872 Mining Law are prohibited within withdrawn areas of the Angeles National Forest. Although the petition was directed at the California Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Help make suction dredge mining a thing of the past.Ī recent post on this site stirred up the pro-con constituencies about suction dredge mining, with the arguments basically boiling down to habitat vs. You use our national lands to enjoy one of the best parts of your recreational life. You can lend your voice either at Trout Unlimited on suction dredging issue or at Friends of the River alert on suction dredging. Can you imagine trying to fish downstream from this suction dredging mining operation? (Photo courtesy of Trout Unlimited.) Imagine the downstream effect to the water. Imagine trying to wet a line next to one of these contraptions. In other words, can California through its police power protect the environment, even on federal land?įor anglers, this means a choice between antiquated, destructive machinery disrupting the stream bed and scattering whatever trout may have thrived there for a largely recreational activity. But Pasadena Casting Club Conservation Chair John Tobin recently alerted me that, sadly, it might not be the case in the future.Īs Tobin wrote in an email, “California Senate Bill 637, effective January 1, 2016, created a path for the statutory prohibition against suction dredge mining on our California streams to be lifted.”Ĭurrently, there’s a case before the California Supreme Court challenging whether state environmental law that makes a particular mining claim on federal land commercially impractical preempted by the federal mining laws, according to the brief. I thought it was a done deal that the California Department of Fish and Wildlife would be allowed to stop illegal activities even on federal lands, even within a national monument. If you thought that suction dredging mining was banned for good from the East Fork of the San Gabriel River outside Los Angeles, and other once-pristine California waters, think again. In a political time, it’s once again time to get political.
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