All-out war on mining in Oregon? 'It's going to kill us'
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COTTAGE GROVE, Ore. - Looking for gold under the cold running water of Sharps Creek gets Richard Stocking's blood pumping.
"Finding the yellow gold - that's, oh ... it's an amazing feeling," he said. "To see it sitting on the rocks underneath the water, it's just amazing feeling."
Stocking has been a small-scale gold miner in the Bohemia mining district for years. He said his way of life is being threatened in the Oregon Legislature.
"I can't begin to tell you how impassioned I am," he said.
He is talking about bills in the legislature branded as an all-out war on mining in Oregon by the Bohemia Mine Owners Association.
- Senate Bill 115 would prohibit placer mining using motorized suction dredges in streambeds.
- Bill 370 would create a fee system and limit the scale of equipment placer miners can use.
- Bill 401 would designate many Oregon waterways as scenic, ending placer mining altogether.
"We don't need more regulation. We don't need more fees," Stocking said. "It's going to kill us."
Supporters of the bills as advanced by state Sen. Alan Bates, D-Medford, argue the measures are designed to protect rivers and fish habitat.
But miners in Oregon plan to make their voices heard, too. They are organizing a rally this Thursday in Salem.
I am all for multi-use forest usage. Â That said I am not for 20 hour work days, starting a children's army, bringing back slavery, or open pit mining for uranium near a creek that flows down to my creek. Laws and democracy can be ugly. Â Without some regs. on industry we would be looking out the window at a mangled landscape. Sure dredging can be done right. Â But I have seen some nasty lowering of creeks that stirred up heavy metals that should have been left alone. We all are not honorable.
@drinkmorewater ---Who said anything about open pit mining for uranium? That is a nonsensical stretch from gold dredging in the creek. Uranium is only $40 a pound. Gold is $1600 an ounce. There may be concerns over miners using mercury by the creek to extract the flour gold. But, I have not seen that in decades, since they tightened the regulations of getting mercury.
How much the dredgers muddy up the water upstream may be excessive in your neck of the woods. For that, I can understand your concern. But, winter rain and the heavy currents (acts of nature) stir up heavy metals every season and deposit them in hot/sweet spots along the creek for the minors to return to summer after summer.
Some of those miners still hold common law mining claims their ancestors bought for $500 that give them rights to live and mine along the creek. I'm sure  BLM does its best to null and void those archaic squatter rights claims to the land  for obvious reasons. But, it is sad that this is actually some peoples only shot at a livelihood no matter how backbreaking the labor.Â
The proposed gun laws are "killing me" also.Â
And we are still protecting spotted owls and our counties have no timber receipts.Â
And the barred owl has now come to oregon and is killing the spotted owl.
And now the forest service thinks we should start shooting the barred owl.Â
and the wheels on the bus go round and round.....
@Jason Marks The rubber will come off some of those wheels if enough people come to their senses. I have said many times Progressives have no conceptual skills, just knee jerk reactions to everything.
Looks like a couple Benjamins in his hand. Such backbreaking work, with usually just flour gold most of the time.
With this economy and the price of gold, I salute these minors out there trying to make an honest living, instead of selling drugs or running a meth lab by the river and killing lots of fish for sure.
Suction dredging with a lawnmower single piston engine on an inner tube, muddies up the creek no more than a bear stomping around in the water most of the day trying to catch a fish.Â
Lighten up, Francis.
The more the laws the greater the state's corruption.  Have you ever seen a law which extends freedom?  Yes, you did.  It was the Constitution of the United States.  The current political philosophy in Oregon and with the Obama regime, however, violates the Constitution and the rights of citizens.  The only purpose of government in our republic is to insure (not provide) insure the peoples' happiness.  Leave these harmless happy people alone and, if it comes to a conflict between a few placer miners and a bunch of  fish, then screw the fish.   PS - And screw the politicians also.
These Senate Bills are based all on opinions that enviromental groups protray as facts none of which are backed up with any truth, the lies that are told are just completly uncalled for, there are 40 years worth of studies done by scientist, biologist , and US EPA all come to conclusion that suction dredging has minimal effects on the enviroment, in fact it benefits the ecosystem  the media normally only show things that are giving miners a bad name thanks to Ty Steel for a good story and getting the point across  Â
@Tom how does dredging benefit the ecosystem?Â
@Rob Blanchard @drinkmorewater @Tom ---most of my favorite fishing holes along Olalla Creek in Ten Mile, Oregon are/were made ripe for steelhead spawning by dredgers. Nothing but beautiful pristine sand left at the bottom of the creek full of crawdads and many trout varieties feeding off of the aquatic life you speak of fostering.
@drinkmorewater @Tom I couldn't tell you how much trash I've pulled out of the South Umpqua River. Its been a lot every single year that I pull out, Along with a lot of naturally occurring mercury.
@drinkmorewater@TomWe clean the water ways of toxic metals and trash. We replenish the nutrients trapped under the overburden for aquatic life to thrive on. We also clean the material we run through creating nice spawning beds and we never dredge during spawning seasons. The list goes on, those are just a few of the benefits. Yes mother nature does this as well but while she does it.. its during large floods where the water becomes muddy and not conventional for aquatic life to feed or spawn.Â