Dave Mack

“Here is some further explaination of the Karuk Tribe Lawsuit against the California DFG to change dredging regulations…”

(Forum post dated 16 March, 2006)

Hello everyone,

For those of you who are not aware, this is about some ongoing litigation in which the Karuk Tribe has been suing the California Department of Fish & Game (DFG) for issuing suction dredge permits which allow dredging in Coho salmon habitat in northern California. There is a special page dedicated to this ongoing litigation on our web site.

To resolve the litigation, the Karuks and DFG have agreed to a Stipulated Settlement which eliminates suction dredging on some waterways and reduces our dredging seasons on others. The regulatory changes are very substantial; especially to people owning mining claims or private property along the waterways which would be closed to dredging by the Settlement.

As the lawsuit was quietly filed in Alameda County last May, which is hundreds of miles away from the affected areas, and no notification was ever given to anyone within the mining community from either DFG or the Karuks, we did not even become aware of the ongoing litigation until after DFG began implementing modified dredge regulations pursuant to their settlement with the Karuk Tribe.

As soon as we became aware of the ongoing litigation, our organization (New 49’ers) took the lead in representing the mining interests of our members, and we motioned the Alameda Superior Court to Intervene in the litigation. Luckily, the Court had not yet endorsed the Stipulated Settlement, even though DFG had already changed our suction dredge regulations to conform to the Agreement.

Over very strong objections voiced by DFG and the Karuk Tribe (arguing that miners had no rights in the matter), the Court granted us Intervention status on February 9th of this year.

Subsequently, both the Karuks and DFG have made two important motions in the case:

1) They have motioned the Court to formally endorse their Settlement Agreement which changes our dredge regulations without any public input, no formal hearing or any biological justification.

2) They have motioned to Court for Protective Orders against our discovery demands for the biological justifications supporting their decision to further restrict or eliminate dredge seasons.

In turn, we filed our final brief a few days ago opposing the Stipulated Agreement and reaffirming our need to acquire biological data which supports both the Karuk and DFG positions within the litigation. To date, the Karuks have only made general allegations concerning potential harm from suction dredging, and DFG has taken the position that the pre-existing suction dredging regulations provided adequate protection to fish. There is no evidence in the record showing any harm to any fish from suction dredging under the pre-existing regulations. Therefore, we believe it is very unreasonable for DFG to enter into a private agreement with the Karuks to impose further restrictions upon suction dredge miners! Under these circumstances, our demands for the biological information which DFG and the Karuks are relying upon seem more than justified.

Both the Karuks and DFG have argued in this case that they should be allowed to reduce or eliminate our dredging seasons in a private agreement amongst themselves, without ever having to provide any biological justification to anyone, not even the court. They have presented the Court with case law to support their position which basically states that Parties in civil litigation have the right to make any private agreement amongst themselves, as long as the parties agree.

In turn, we are making the argument that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) mandates that agencies of the State are required to follow a very structured public process before it may adopt regulatory changes for an industry, and that this is not something the State has authority to trade off in a Settlement Agreement with an anti-industry group. We also argue that the case law which the Karuks and DFG rely upon does not allow two parties in litigation to settle their dispute by trading off rights or property which belong to others.

I believe these are the last filings in this case before the judge will decide what to do about these two issues. The hearing is scheduled for 9:00 AM on 23 March at Alameda County Superior Court, Department 512, Hayward Hall of Justice, 24405 Amador Street, Hayward, California.

Once again, we have done our absolute best to represent the interests of small-scale miners. Now we must see how the judge will decide. I encourage as many miners and prospectors as possible to be present during the hearing next week. Please be there if you can!

As I have said before, winning these days is mainly about raising money to pay the best attorneys we can afford.

The law is on our side. But we are up against very practiced and respected environmental law firms. Winning means having practiced and experienced attorneys on our own side who know how to make arguments which the judge will give careful consideration to. Anything short of that lessens the chance of preserving our rights. This is the way important matters are resolved in America today. To play the game, we need to be right in there alongside the best of them making our position heard. I hope you guys are in agreement with this strategy.

I want to express my sincere thanks to those of you who have responded to my requests for financial donations to help pay the attorneys that have been helping us with this case. Thank you! The need is a continuing one, so I encourage you to please keep the flow coming our way. In turn, we will do our absolute best to hold the line for our side.

Let’s keep our collective fingers crossed for a favorable decision on the 23rd!

All the best,

Dave Mack

 

 
Dave Mack

“Here is some further explaination of the Karuk Tribe Lawsuit against the California DFG to change dredging regulations…”

Forum post, 30 March 2006

Hello everyone,

I’m sorry my report on this has taken so long, but I have been reluctant to comment beyond what was reported last week until I could obtain an actual copy of the Amended Stipulation which was submitted to the Court by the Karuks and Department of Fish & Game (DFG).

The hearing that was scheduled last week (23 March) only allowed an hour for all interested persons to present verbal arguments. The Karuks and DFG showed up at the hearing with a “new deal” in the form of an “Amended Stipulation,” which commits DFG to begin a new rule-making process under CEQA within 120 days (4 months). The injunction would expire in one year plus 120 days (unless extended by the Court) with the expectation of having new rules in place by that time. This is referring to the very same or more restrictive regulations which DFG has issued pursuant to the earlier Stipulated Agreement.

My own interpretation of this is that they are basically asking the judge to impose an injunction until DFG undergoes a formal process under CEQA that imposes an equal or greater amount of restriction upon suction dredging as what presently exists within the modified regulations. This solution is a total violation of the CEQA process, because it imposes a mandate upon DFG to arrive at a final outcome, regardless of the science or other factors which DFG is required to consider during a proper CEQA action. What is the use of going through a public process in the first place to examine the science and develop the most reasonable solutions, if DFG and the Karuks have already agreed to what the outcome is going to be? That is backwards!

DFG argued in the hearing that they have met discovery requirements to the miners, because they have allowed us access to all existing information in their files, other than anything having to do with the ongoing litigation. Our attorneys reminded the judge that it is discovery concerning the ongoing litigation which DFG is refusing to provide. They are insisting upon keeping a secret of how they are justifying further restrictive changes upon our industry!

DFG also argued that the miners are really not hurt by the new dredging restrictions, because there are many other places where we can go to prospect for gold. In turn, we argued that land owners and miners who own mineral rights within the affected area will be adversely affected by the changed regulations.

As the time allowed for this hearing was quite short, there was not enough time to fully debate the issues in front of the judge. However, the written briefs which have been submitted to the Court have exhaustively covered all sides of the issues. The key documents in the litigation can be found on the special page we have created for this on our web site.

Our lawyers argued in the hearing that the “new deal” should not be accepted by the Court for the very same reasons the earlier Stipulated Agreement should have been rejected: A State agency does [U]not[/U] have the authority to change industry regulations through a private agreement with an anti-industry group in the first place. Especially without providing [U]any[/U] factual support of its reasons to anyone!

The Court has taken everything under advisement and we assume she will issue a ruling reasonably soon. Stay tuned in, because we will put up a copy of the ruling as soon as one is issued.

I want to thank those of you who have heard my requests for financial contributions to help pay the attorneys that are working so hard for our side. I encourage you to please keep the support coming our way so that we can keep up with continuing costs of this litigation. This is going to be very important in the event we find ourselves needing to file an appeal!

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed for a positive outcome!!

All the best,

Dave Mack

 

 
Dave Mack

“Here is some further explaination of the Karuk Tribe Lawsuit against the California DFG to change dredging regulations…”

(Forum post dated 08 May, 2006)

Hello everyone,

Here follows an update even since I wrote the
May newsletter a few days ago:

The judge’s Order granting Intervention status to miners in the litigation concerning our California dredging regulations was made final on 9 February. This has allowed us to participate in the ongoing litigation. We have created a special page on our web site that includes explanations and the most important documents concerning this case.

We have also submitted a motion for the judge to reject the Stipulation which has been submitted to the Court by DFG and the Karuks to end the litigation. This target=”_blank”>Stipulation agrees to an injunction preventing DFG from issuing suction dredge permits for the Main Stem of the Salmon River, Elk Creek, Indian Creek and other waterways. The injunction also reduces the dredging season along the Klamath and Scott Rivers to 1 July through 15 September. These are substantial changes to our suction dredge regulations. DFG began implementing them in November of 2005 without so much as a single notice to the mining community or the many other people that will be adversely affected.

The judge’s most recent target=”_blank”>Order has requested supplemental briefing from all the Parties concerning how a very recent appellate decision (Trancas Property Owners Association v. City of Malibu) affects our case. In the Trancas Decision, the appellate court made several important findings that were relevant to our case. For example, the court said, “. . . whatever else it may permit, the exemption cannot be construed to empower a city council to take or agree to take, as part of a non-publicly ratified litigation settlement, action that by substantive law may not be taken without a public hearing and an opportunity for the public to be heard. As a matter of legislative intention and policy, a statute that is part of a law intended to assure public decision-making, except in narrow circumstances, may not be read to authorize circumvention and indeed violation of other laws requiring that decisions be preceded by public hearings, simply because the means and object of the violation are settlement of a lawsuit.Trancas, 41 Cal. Rptr.3d at 210. While this had to do with a city council bypassing the required public participation under the Brown Act, the very same legal theory concerning the public process requirement also applies to State agencies that are in the process of changing industry regulations.

In the present litigation, DFG’s position is that they can skirt around the provisions of the California Environmental Policy Act (CEQA) by making a court settlement, even though they are arguing in court that they have already been affording adequate protections to fish without making a settlement agreement with the Karuks.

CEQA was implemented to prevent arbitrary and capricious actions from State officials, while providing reasonable protections for the environment.

All parties have already submitted supplemental briefing to the Court. You can find target=”_blank”>ours on the special web page that I mentioned above. You can also find the target=”_blank”>Karuk and target=”_blank”>DFG supplemental briefs there. We have since target=”_blank”>replied to their supplemental briefs.

Both DFG and the Karuks are still trying to argue that a State agency has the authority to bypass its obligation to include the public by making a private settlement agreement with an anti-industry group that is suing them. Interestingly, the Karuk’s were initially suing DFG for not following the CEQA process. That has evolved into an Agreement between themselves to definitely not follow the CEQA process! We do not see how the judge could go along with this, but we will all have to wait and see what she decides.

The judge could now issue a decision any day. Stay tuned. We will let you know the result as soon as we have it!

All the best,
Dave Mack

 

 
Dave Mack

“Here is some further explaination of the Karuk Tribe Lawsuit against the California DFG to change dredging regulations…”

(Forum post dated 22 May, 2006)

Hello everyone.

There is a new development in the Karuk/DFG litigation. Walter Eason, A person with gold mining interests, filed a Motion on his own behalf to intervene in the ongoing litigation on May 12th, just last week.

We were expecting a decision from the judge at any moment concerning whether or not she would strike down the Stipulated Agreement which was negotiated by the Department of Fish & Game (DFG) and the Karuk Tribe to end the litigation. That Agreement imposes more restrictions upon our industry. A lot of miners have been waiting in the wings for the judge’s decision, because it makes the difference whether or not the dredging season opens up on the upper Klamath River on May 27th, or on July 1st.

Mr. Eason has been very supportive of our position in this litigation during the past. More recently, he has discovered a legal decision (Boisclair v. Superior Court (1990) 51 Cal 3d 1140) concerning a Superior Court’s lack of subject matter jurisdiction to decide any matter concerning Indian rights. Through correspondence with me, the attorneys who are representing miners in the litigation, and others within our industry, it is clear that Mr. Eason believes it is imperative that we immediately file a Motion to Dismiss the whole case.

We respectfully disagreed with Mr. Eason’s position for several reasons: (1) We don’t believe this case has very much to do with adjudicating Indian rights. The Karuks are suing DFG because they do not believe DFG has followed all of the provisions required by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). (2) We believe the Stipulated Agreement between DFG and the Karuks is totally illegal. We believe there is a reasonable chance the judge will agree with us about that. Since all of the arguments have been placed in front of her on this matter, and the dredging season is nearly upon us, we did not want to confuse everything by interjecting a whole new jurisdictional challenge into the process. Surely, this would delay the judge’s decision that everyone is waiting for.

Mr. Eason’s motion filed with the Court last week also requested that the Court not make any decision concerning the Stipulated Agreement until after his Intervention Motion and jurisdictional challenge is decided. Consequently, the judge decided on Friday to set a hearing date of 8 June to decide what to do about Mr. Eason’s Intervention motion. Unless I am mistaken, now we should not expect to receive any decision from the judge concerning our season until sometime after 8 June.

Before we start getting ourselves all charged up over this, I’d like to make two important points:

1) There is a lot at stake in this litigation. While our organization is doing its best to represent the interests of all small-scale miners in the litigation, it is unlikely that we can support every interest. I’m sure there must be a fair number of interests even outside of our industry that are not been adequately represented in the litigation.

It is especially important that if there is a class of miners out there who believe that we are not already adequately representing them, certainly we should allow them an opportunity to be heard. None of us should make the mistake of believing we have the only answer, or even the best answer. Who knows; perhaps Mr. Eason’s approach will be the winning argument before this is all over. And even if it isn’t, we should applaud his efforts to fight for the industry using arguments that he believes are very important. Clearly, the judge has taken Mr. Eason’s material seriously enough to allow him a hearing.

2) The Klamath River is still running at storm flows. The dams are full and letting enough water out to cause the river to run about 8 feet higher than normal summer levels. The Scott River is discharging muddy water into the Klamath, dropping underwater visibility to zero. It is like we are in the middle of a very large winter storm! Even most of the high-banking areas are underwater!

So even if the judge struck down the DFG/Karuk Agreement last week as we had hoped, most of the river is still too high and swift to dredge at the moment. I‘m not kidding; it is really running fast and turbulent! This probably is not going to change very much for at least another few weeks.

Therefore, we really have not lost anything because of this further delay in the judge’s decision.

I keep getting emails from people asking how legal the amended DFG regulations are, since they have not yet been endorsed by the court. I cannot give legal advice because I am not a licensed attorney. All I can do is express my own opinion – which is that I don’t believe the amended regulations are legal, and I don’t believe they can be enforced. Although this does not mean that the game warden will not go down and write you a ticket for dredging out of season under the amended regulations. He probably will! I’m mainly talking about what happens when you get to court. I don’t believe the court will allow DFG to prosecute a case against you for having violated a regulation that was not adopted pursuant to the legal process in the first place. Having said all that, I can tell you from long experience that it is very uncomfortable to be in trouble with the law, even when you are 100% right. Lawyers are expensive. Our organization is already plenty challenged trying to keep from falling even further behind on paying the costs of the ongoing litigation!

We all have to make our own decisions about these things. Because the river is running so high at the moment anyway, my own best advice would be to wait it out for a while longer.

Dave Mack

 

 

MICHAEL J. BURNSIDE retired on June 3, 2005 after 27 years with the U.S. Forest Service. He was the Assistant Director of Minerals and Geology Management in Washington DC from 2003 to 2005, and led the Forest Service’s hard rock mining, abandoned mine lands, national minerals training, and the geology and ground water programs. Before moving to DC, he was Regional Mining Engineer for the Forest Service’s Northern Region in Missoula, Montana, where for many years he provided technical and legal leadership and assistance to the Northern Region’s National Forests in Montana, Idaho, and North Dakota on mining plans of operation, claim validity, and patent reports.

Prior to the U.S. Forest Service, Mike worked a number of years in base and precious metal exploration for Noranda Exploration, Inc. and Bear Creek Mining Co.; in petroleum exploration for Texaco Oil Co.; and in trona resource evaluation for the U.S. Geological Survey. Mike earned a B.A. in geology in 1970 and an M.S. degree in economic geology in 1974 from the University of Montana.

 

By Michael Burnside, June 17, 2005

In 1897, Congress passed the Organic Act, which established the National Forest System and the purposes for which it would be managed. In regard to mining, the 1897 Act said that while the Forest Service couldn’t prohibit activities reasonably incidental to mining under the 1872 General Mining Law, the Forest Service was authorized to create reasonable rules to regulate the adverse effects of mining activities on the National Forests, and miners had to comply with those rules. In 1974, the Forest Service finally wrote those regulations. Since 1974 was the first attempt at rule making to oversee the surface effects of mining, the rules had imperfections and there were concerns over the years about their interpretation and application. But the Forest Service was largely consistent in how it interpreted them and in the manual direction it issued to apply its 36 CFR 228A regulations to minimize adverse environmental impacts from mining activities. In short, the Forest Service logically focused on the likely impacts of proposed mining activities, and required miners to submit plans of operations for all activities which would likely cause significant surface disturbance, regardless whether those activities involved mechanized earth moving equipment or the cutting of trees.

Activities which do not necessarily involve mechanized earth moving equipment or the cutting of trees could include construction of ore processing mills and mill sites; residential construction and occupancy; major hand excavation of holes, trenches, and pits in stream areas; road and bridge construction; disposal of mine tailings and other wastes; signing and fencing to restrict public use; diversion of water; and use of sluice boxes; storage of vehicles; and off highway vehicle use. While none of these activities may involve mechanized earth moving equipment or cutting of trees, they obviously could cause significant surface disturbance. Inability of the Forest Service to regulate such activities could result in significant impacts to NFS lands and resources and would violate the stated purpose of the 36 CFR 228A regulations to minimize adverse effects from mining. Numerous court decisions over the years, including 1981 US v. Weiss; 1989 U.S. v. Doremus; 1986 U.S. v. Brunskill; and 1990 U.S. v. Burnett; had upheld the Forest Service’s authority to apply its regulations in this manner and for this purpose.

In 2003, the judge who issued the Lex decision focused on the wording in one section of the Forest Service’s 1974 regulations and interpreted it in a manner that was directly contrary to how the Forest Service had been historically interpreting its regulation. In summary, the Judge said that based on the words the Forest Service had used in its regulations in 1974, it could not regulate operations which do not involve the use of mechanized earth moving equipment, such as bulldozers and backhoes, or cutting of trees.

As indicated previously, if this 2003 judicial interpretation of the 1974 rule had been allowed to stand, it would have overridden other language in 36 CFR Part 228 Subpart A which required miners to file a plan of operations for significant surface disturbing activities. The Lex court’s interpretation of the Forest Service’s rules conceivably could have allowed construction and operation of mills; deposition of tailings and mine waste; construction and occupation of residencies and buildings; and a long list of other examples, all without Forest Service oversight or bonding. The effect of such a broad exemption would have been contrary to Forest Service statutory authority and obligation to regulate mining on National Forests, and almost certainly would have caused a major adverse public reaction to such unregulated mining activities on public lands.

The judge who wrote the Lex decision was sympathetic with the dilemma his decision placed upon the Forest Service. The court referenced the Forest Service’s continuing authority to write regulations, and suggested that the Forest Service modify the 36 CFR 228 A regulations to fix the situation. Rather than appeal the Lex decision, which was indeed an option, the Forest Service believed the better long term solution was to do as the judge suggested and revise its regulation, which resulted in this final rule. The Forest Service used this situation as an opportunity to clarify its rules and address issues raised in the extensive public comment on the rule.

The June 6, 2005, Federal Register notice with the new rule at 36 CFR 228.4(a) and its Preamble contains several things that miners in general and small operators in particular should take note of:

1.) The Rule has been reorganized to make it flow more logically and to parallel the progression of activities from low impact or no impact to those requiring a plan of operations.

2.) The Preamble acknowledges that there is some confusion about how these regulations apply to “recreational miners”, and that some opponents to suction dredging assert that recreational mining is not legal under the mining law. The Forest Service makes it clear in the Preamble that it does not matter how operations are described, whether as recreational or commercial. As long as the operations are all reasonably incidental to mining, the same rules apply to all miners.

3.) Some members of the public have argued that a plan of operations should be required for any suction dredging operations and some miners have argued that suction dredging should be exempt from a Notice of Intent or a Plan of Operations. The Preamble explains that a “one size fits all” determination cannot be applied to suction dredging, and it must be made on a site-specific basis because of the great variability in circumstances and resource sensitivities on National Forests. Therefore it is possible that in some settings, a suction dredge operation may be exempt (perhaps under 228.4(1)(vi)) from needing a notice of intent or plan of operations and other circumstances where a Plan would be necessary if the operation would likely cause a significant surface disturbance.

4.) The new rule does not change bonding or other enforcement provisions available to the Forest Service against miners. Those remain the same as they have always been.

5.) The Preamble explains these regulations do not preclude or conflict with California State suction dredging permits, and that the state and federal permitting can and should be read together.

6.) The Forest Service has committed in the Preamble to train Forest Service mineral administrators to insure consistent interpretation and application of this new rule. In addition, the Chief of the Forest Service issued separate guidance in November 2004 that all mineral administrators must become trained and certified in the application of these regulations.

7.) The Preamble clarifies that the term “significant” as used in 36 CFR 228A is NOT used in the same way as under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The Preamble also explains the standard for determining significance under 36 CFR 228A. Any District Ranger’s decision that a proposal “…will likely cause significant disturbance of surface resources…” must be (1.) demonstrably based on past experience, direct evidence, or sound scientific projection; that would (2.) lead the District Ranger to reasonably expect the proposed operation to result in impacts to National Forest System lands that would need to be avoided or mitigated by reclamation, bonding, timing restrictions, or other measures to minimize adverse effects.

8.) The Preamble explains that stream beds in National Forests which have been adjudicated and determined to be navigable when the particular State entered the Union are exempt from Forest Service regulations. All others are subject to Forest Service regulation. Forest Service Regional Offices or the appropriate states should be able to provide a list of those streams.

9.) The Preamble explains that in spite of the original wording in the 1974 rule stating a Notice of Intent must be filed for any disturbance, careful research of the record for the 1974 rule revealed there was never any intent to require Notices of Intent for all activities which might cause a disturbance. The original intent was to require a Notice of Intent for only those operations which might (but are not likely to) cause SIGNIFICANT disturbance to surface resources and thus might require the filing of a Plan of Operations. Therefore, this final rule was changed to include the word “significant” in the context of requiring a Notice of Intent. Only operations; which might cause significant disturbance now require the filing of a Notice of Intent.

The Preamble also emphasizes that a Notice of Intent is not a regulatory instrument, permit, or “mini-plan”. A Notice of Intent is simply a notice the operator provides to the Forest Service to alert them and to help the process along, since it is in both their interests to do so.

10.) The Preamble clarifies that the trigger for a Notice of Intent is an operator’s reasonable uncertainty as to the significance of the disturbance the proposed operations will cause on National Forest System resources. If an operator reasonably concludes operations will not cause significant disturbance of NFS resources, the operator is not required to submit an NOI or POO.

The District Ranger may disagree with this and require a Plan of Operations. However, the Ranger’s decision must be based on past experience, direct evidence, or sound scientific projects that would lead the Ranger to reasonably expect the proposed operation to result in impacts to National Forest System lands that would need to be avoided or mitigated by reclamation, bonding, timing restrictions, or other measures to minimize adverse effects. Under Forest Service appeal regulations, an operator would have the right to challenge this decision.

11.) The new rule clarified and added to the list of activities exempt from filing Notices of Intent or Plans of Operation, including the following:

a.) Under the new rule, vehicle use on existing roads, removal of small mineral samples, marking and monumenting claims, and underground operations which will not cause significant surface resource disturbance, will continue to not require an NOI or POO.

b.) The new rule added specifics to the exemption from filing a Notice of Intent or Plan of Operations at 228.4 (a)(1)(ii). Gold panning, non-motorized hand sluicing, battery operated dry washers, metal detecting, and collecting of mineral specimens using hand tools have been added.

c.) The Preamble clarifies the wording in this exemption about removal of a “reasonable amount of mineral deposit for analysis and study” to mean removal of amounts consistent with commonly accepted standards for taking stream sediment samples such as those listed in the U.S. Bureau of Mines publication, “Standard Procedures for Sampling” (sample size of 200 gms.), and Peter’s “Exploration and Mining Geology” (50 to 100 gms. every 50 to 100 meters). Peters recommendation for hard rock samples is 500 gm. to 2 kg. in size.

d.) The final rule also includes a new exemption to insure that miners are not treated to a different standard than other Forest users. It provides that miners are exempt from filing a Notice of Intent or Plan of Operations when their proposed activities have effects which are not substantially different from other non-mining activities for which no prior permission or authorization is required. If the Forest Service allows activities by other Forest users without requiring a permit, and those activities have the same effects as those conducted by miners, the miners’ activities should be exempted from an NOI or POO as well.

In summary, the discussion in the Preamble is well worth reading since it explains the background and proper interpretation and intent of this new rule.

Nov 232011
 
 

The New 49’ers Prospecting Organization

27 Davis Road, Happy Camp, CA 96039
(530) 493-2012
www.goldgold.com

U.S. Forest Service
Attn: Director, MGM Staff
Mailstop 1126
Washington D.C. 20250

6 July 2007

Comments on proposed clarification, 36 CFR Part 261:

Dear Sirs,

Our organization presently represents 1,300 active, concerned small-scale prospectors who utilize USFS lands for exploration and development of valuable minerals. While some of our members may submit their own comments, most of them look to our organization to provide comments on their behalf. We are aware that other prospecting organizations have already commented concerning the legalities of what you propose to do. So we will confine our comments to some practical concerns having to do with operations in the field. Thank you for allowing our organization to express the following comments:

1) While we do understand that district rangers desire to possess an enforcement mechanism to more-easily deal with some small percentage of mineral operators (or persons masquerading as mineral operators), we are worried that some districts will abuse the enforcement mechanism to make it even more difficult for legitimate mineral operators to prospect and develop valuable deposits on USFS lands.

Several years ago, when the Final Rule concerning Section 228 was adopted, we were promised by USFS Minerals Staff in Washington D.C. that there would be a very strong effort to ensure that only fully-trained minerals officers would be allowed to manage minerals operations, and such officers would be trained that existing laws instruct USFS to encourage mineral development on the public lands. We were assured that the abusive policies (against mineral developers) adopted by some district and regional USFS staff would be eliminated as a result of an internal push from Washington D.C., mainly through a well-organized educational program.

Years later, we still find ourselves at the hands of some USFS staff that are continuing a hostile management policy towards mineral developers. This is especially true in Northern California with management from the Orleans Ranger District, where the minerals officer (Leslie Burrows) has gone so far as to inform members of our organization that even the activity of gold panning would require a formal NOI which would take as long as 6 months to process before the activity would be “approved.” This, even though gold panning is specifically excluded from any NOI requirement! Miss Burrows and the Orleans District Ranger well-know that hand mining with a gold pan does not require any NOI or approval process from USFS, but they have clearly chosen a policy of discouragement (towards mineral developers), especially to new persons within our industry who are fearful of being in trouble with the authorities. Leslie Burrows is a bully towards mineral operators, and District Ranger, Bill Rice, has made it very clear to members of our organization that he personally has a policy of discouraging mineral operators, because his personal priority is to “protect” the needs of the Karuk Tribe. As part of this discouragement, the Orleans District has implemented a program of placing substantial barriers of dirt and gravel across the road access points to mining claims within the Orleans District where claim owners are able to camp on their own claims. I can send pictures if you would like to see them. Unquestionably, this district has adopted a deliberate and aggressive policy of preventing prospectors from camping upon their own mining claims!

I use this example of the Orleans District to show to what extent, in some places, that USFS district rangers and minerals staff will go to deliberately discourage mineral exploration on the public lands. While the Orleans District provides some of the best mining prospects within the Klamath National Forest, our organization has completely withdrawn all mineral exploration activity from the Orleans Ranger District because the existing district ranger there (William Rice) and his staff, as a matter of very firm policy, deliberately discourage mineral activity.

It would be naïve to believe that Orleans is the only district within the USFS system that has adopted a policy of discouragement towards small-scale prospectors. Providing these districts with a penal provision will allow them yet another tool to push legitimate prospectors out of their districts. This would not be beneficial to the public interest. While I am only guessing at this, I suspect the USFS staff that is pushing Washington Minerals the hardest for a penal provision, are the very staff that are opposed to mineral development within their districts!

With these comments, we are encouraging Minerals staff in Washington to carefully weigh and balance the costs and benefits of creating a penal provision as proposed. How many serious problems really do exist with mineral operators right now that cannot be managed with the civil remedies? Are there any at all? What are the cost of these problems to the surface and environmental values which the USFS is charged to protect? Would there be much additional cost in just continuing with the existing civil remedy, rather than with a penal remedy (where a violation of Section 228 must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt)? Do those costs outweigh the losses to future productive activity on USFS lands which are sure to result from abusive policies in districts which are hostile to mineral development?

Washington Minerals staff is well-aware of the problems small-scale miners have in districts which are hostile to mineral developers.

I would point out that it was the abusive discouragement policy of the Orleans District which brought about the Decision in McClure which undermined the penal provision in the first place. This is important to consider. Because, giving district rangers a penal provision within Section 261 to enforce the provisions of Section 228 will still not resolve the basic problem which some district rangers are trying to solve (which is to push miners out of their districts).

The penal provision was defeated in McClure in the preliminary hearing. Had that been overcome, the Orleans District still would have had to overcome the burden of proving that Mr. McClure was required to obtain an approved Operating Plan. They would have had to prove he was creating a substantial surface disturbance. We don’t believe Orleans would have won that case.

Sometimes, it seems like the Ranger believes that just writing the criminal citation is the solution that will solve everything. I am pointing out that had the McClure case gone to a hearing on the merits; there is a reasonable chance that the end result would have been worse for the Forest Service than the loss of your penal provision. If not from Washington Minerals, then some language will have to come from the Courts that mineral operators cannot be turned out of the forest just because district staff object to the activity!

Those of us that are aware of the intent of congress and the language of Section 228 believe that giving district rangers a penal solution to try and discourage mineral developers will only make the problem worse. The only thing that will solve this problem is better management and education of district rangers and minerals staff from Washington D.C. Perhaps this will only happen after more litigation and direction from the Courts.

Our suggestion: If you are going to provide districts with another tool which could be used to further-discourage mineral development, please also create some very clear language to help prevent abuse. Promises of more and better training and direction from Washington have not produced results! Rather, we would like to see some clear language added into the proposed clarification which makes it more clear that the penal provision cannot be used to prevent any legitimate mineral-related activity which does not rise to the level of a substantial surface disturbance (as clarified within Section 228) which the district ranger or minerals staff must be prepared to prove when prosecuting a criminal citation.

An answer that Section 228 already clarifies this is not good enough. Definitions and exclusions differ between Sections 261 and 228, which will most certainly cause confusion and conflict. We suggest, if Section 261 is going to include a penal provision as a remedy for unauthorized mineral activity or associated occupation, there also needs to be some additional language in Section 261 which clarifies that mineral and associated activity is managed under Section 228; that Section 228 defines when authorization is required; and that those definitions revolve around what constitutes a “substantial surface disturbance.”

This would help district rangers with a tool to more-easily deal with people who are not legitimate mineral operators, or those who need to be brought into a formal Operating Plan when their activities rise to the level of a demonstrable substantial surface disturbance. At the same time, such language will require district staff to possess some level of proof (of a substantial surface disturbance) before issuing a criminal citation.

2) It is necessary for some mineral operators to occupy the national forest, sometimes for extended periods of time. Placing an arbitrary time limit upon how long a mineral prospector may occupy the forest would be counterproductive to the intent of existing mining law. Imposition of a 14-day camping limit upon a prospector who is actively searching for or developing mineral resources in the forest would be an arbitrary and capricious management in context with controlling case law that directs USFS to encourage mineral development.

What happens after the 14 days are up? If the prospector relocates his camp, do district staff then take it to the next step and tell the prospector he can only remain in the forest for a total of 30 days during a year? This would be very unreasonable in the context of “encouragement.”

With today’s cost of fuel and private lodging facilities, forcing a prospector to travel and reside in private facilities while prospecting for valuable mineral deposits some distance away will create economic hardship that would discourage a substantial amount of mineral prospecting. Preventing mineral developers from occupying mining claims while actively working them can create security issues (theft and vandalism of equipment) which will discourage a substantial amount of mineral development. This is especially true, being that any other person would be free to occupy an active mining claim for 14 days without special authorization. Telling a miner that he must abandon his equipment, while others would be allowed to occupy the same location, would be a very unreasonable policy in view of the substantial investment required to develop mineral deposits these days!

If the USFS has a policy of allowing any person to reside within the forest for up to 14 days without special use authorization, what is the problem with allowing mineral prospectors to reside there for longer periods, as long as they are not creating a substantial surface disturbance through the combination of the camping and mineral activity? Once again, we are back to the definitions and clarifications provided in Section 228. A prospector must have the right to look after his or her investment!

While we understand that district staff need a mechanism to deal with problems which can become substantial (sanitation, trash, accumulation of junk, equipment or other belongings) when some prospectors stay around longer, we believe the “substantial” language in Section 228 already addresses this. Let’s please not impose arbitrary time limits upon prospectors whose personal imprints upon the forest are not adding up in this way.

Once again, we believe the “substantial” concept in Section 228, coupled with the penal provision, would allow district staff the necessary mechanism to manage problems which get out of hand, while allowing prospectors who are doing things neatly the freedom to keep prospecting or developing valuable mineral deposits with minimal cost and risk.

While Washington Minerals Staff might not have any intention of imposing a 14 day camping limit upon prospectors, I can tell you with clear certainty that some district rangers and staff certainly do! The Orleans District routinely informs prospectors that they must either leave after 14 days or obtain an approved Operating Plan (which the Ranger says will require at least a year to process). Prospectors in Orleans are routinely threatened with penal consequences (if they camp longer than 14 days), even though no penal provision presently exists!

So it is greatly important for Minerals Staff to make USFS policy concerning camping limits clear in language. Otherwise, it will surely have to be worked out in litigation. To not clarify the issue at this phase would imply that USFS is deliberately being ambiguous concerning how long a legitimate mineral operator may occupy the public lands. This would be an invitation for conflict.

3) About your proposed language in Section 261.10 (p) “Use or occupancy…without an approved operating plan when such authorization is required:”

Once again, we suggest there is need for further clarification in (p) that some types of mineral-related activity do not require either a special use permit or an approved operating plan; and that the distinction revolves around when the mineral-related activity rises to the level of a substantial impact upon surface resources as covered in Section 228.

Just as importantly, or perhaps even more so, we strongly encourage you to include some language which clarifies that special authorization is only necessary for the specific part of the activity which requires it.

As an example, if the USFS decides to assume a position that any camping beyond 14 days by mineral operators will require an operating plan or special use permit, you should not require the remaining part of the mineral program to be subjected to the operating plan requirement if no operating plan would be required if there was no extended camping. Case in point: A person who is using a metal detector to locate mineral specimens, under normal circumstances, would not even be required to provide Notice. Therefore, the person’s electronic prospecting activity should not be raised to the level of an approval process just because he or she desires to camp on the mining claim for an extended period of time. If USFS insists that extended camping will require an approved operating plan or special use permit, the approval process should only concern itself with the camping.

The reason this is important is that gaining approval of an operating plan within an area where special concern species or other special designations exist usually requires consultation with other agencies. The process can take many years to complete (if ever). In fact, the consultation process takes so long to complete, that the requirement of an operating plan in many areas basically amounts to a prohibition of the mineral activity! I’m sure Washington Minerals staff is well-aware of this.

We are suggesting that it would be a bad idea to lump a mineral activity which is being allowed under a NOI into a full operating plan/consultation program simply because the operator wants to spend longer than 14 days camping on his or her mining claim (safeguarding expensive equipment) while developing an underwater gold deposit.

This same concern extends to the subject of special use permits for camping or other activities that are related to a mineral program. As an example, our organization has worked hard and long to adjust our cumulative mineral activities into a program which the Happy Camp Ranger allows under a NOI. But the Ranger has told us that if we want to charge money to teach prospecting in his district, we will need to obtain special use authorization which will trigger a full consultation process – even though none of the activity would rise beyond the level of what is already being allowed under our NOI. So the additional activity of teaching would undermine our entire program in the forest, even though it would not increase the environmental impact. Here is an example of where overlapping regulations can completely undermine an otherwise allowable and productive activity!

If encouragement of mineral activity is the aim, it would be a bad idea to impose a “special authorization” requirement upon mineral operators that will automatically trigger costly and lengthy consultation processes, simply because the mineral operator wants to camp on his or her mining claim for longer than 14 days or do something else with requires special authorization, but does not increase the level of environmental impact.

Once again, since USFS is managing the surface resources, when it comes to mineral operators, we encourage you to manage our impact upon the surface resources, rather than try and push prospectors out of the forest after some arbitrary time limit.

To avoid abuse and conflicts, we encourage you to clarify these important concerns with additional language inside of Section 261.

Sincerely,

Dave McCracken
President, The New 49’ers

 
 

Northwest Mining Association Comments

on USFS proposed Section 261 Rule changes

July 3, 2007

Forest Service, USDA
Attention:
Director, Minerals and Geology Management (MGM) Staff (2810)
Mail Stop 1126
Washington, DC 20250-1126

Re: Proposed Amendments to 36 CFR 261.2 & 261.10 F2 Fed. Reg. 26578

Northwest Mining Association (NWMA) is a 112 year-old, 1,650 member non-profit, non-partisan trade association based in Spokane, Washington. Our members reside in 33 states and are actively involved in prospecting, exploring, mining, and reclamation closure activities on USFS administered land. Our membership represents every facet of the mining industry, including geology, exploration, mining, engineering, equipment manufacturing, technical services, legal services, and sales of equipment and supplies. Our broad-based membership includes many small miners and exploration geologists, as well as junior and large mining companies. More than 90% of our members are small businesses or work for small businesses.

NWMA’s members have extensive knowledge of the General Mining Laws of the U.S., the 36 CFR 228A and 261 regulations, the Surface Resources Act of 1955, administrative and judicial decisions interpreting those laws, and the issues raised in the proposed rule.

We are aware of case law that supports the Forest Service using 36 CFR 261 for enforcement of its 36 CFR 228A mining regulations in certain circumstances. However, we also are aware of many cases where the Forest Service has inappropriately or illegally used this enforcement regulation. We believe the 261 rule, as proposed, will only increase the potential for misuse by overzealous Forest Service officers and complicate things further for the Forest Service and miners. Thus, we believe the rule needs additional changes and submit the following comments explaining those needed changes.

The Forest Service needs to make it very clear in the proposed rule that for a miner to be charged under 36 CFR 261, the Forest Service must first demonstrate that the miner has violated 36 CFR 228 Subpart A. Thus, the 261 regs need to explain more fully that the phrase added at sections 36 CFR 261.10 (a), (b), and (p) “. . . approved operating plan when such authorization is required” severely restricts Forest Service use of 36 CFR 261 against miners because 261 cannot be used unless the Forest Service first demonstrates that there is a violation of 36 CFR 228A and that a Plan of Operations is required.

The Forest Service also needs to explain in the proposed 261 rule under what circumstances it will use criminal enforcement measures and when it intends to use civil measures. The Forest Service should further explain how the Forest Service Manual (FSM) policy direction fits into this determination, and how the agency will monitor, manage, and restrict rampant abuse by untrained, unqualified and/or hostile Forest Service officers of the criminal citation procedures against miners. At FSM 2817 and elsewhere, the Forest Service commits to only having certified qualified minerals’ administrators and inspectors involved in determining when an operation is in compliance.

2817. Inspector Qualifications. Inspection shall be conducted by Forest officers who are familiar with the equipment and methods needed to find and produce minerals and who can accurately assess the significance of surface resource disturbance. Inspectors should be capable of identifying those activities of an operator which are reasonably necessary to the operation, which ones could perhaps be done differently with less effect on surface resources without endangering or hindering the operation, and which ones are unreasonable or unnecessary.

Consistent with this policy, the proposed amendment to 36 CFR 261 should require a Forest Service law enforcement officer to work only with, and rely upon, an official Forest Service Certified Minerals Administrator to determine and document that an operation is in violation of 36 CFR 228A prior to issuing a violation notice under 261 (emphasis added).

The Forest Service also should explain how it intends to reconcile its use of 36 CFR 261 with the noncompliance procedures already existing at 36 CFR 228.7 (as well as a miner’s appeal rights and the appeal procedures at 36 CFR 251):

Sec. 228.7 Inspection, noncompliance.

(a) Forest Officers shall periodically inspect operations to determine if the operator is complying with the regulations in this part and an approved plan of operations. (b) If an operator fails to comply with the regulations or his approved plan of operations and the noncompliance is unnecessarily or unreasonably causing injury, loss or damage to surface resources the authorized officer shall serve a notice of noncompliance upon the operator or his agent in person or by certified mail. Such notice shall describe the noncompliance and shall specify the action to comply and the time within which such action is to be completed, generally not to exceed thirty (30) days: Provided, however, that days during which the area of operations is inaccessible shall not be included when computing the number of days allowed for compliance.

Note that the above regulation requires a miner to be served notice prior to the FS taking an enforcement action. Since this notice is a Forest Service decision, consistent with 36 CFR 228.14, a miner should be given an opportunity to appeal it under 36 CFR 251. In addition, FSM 2817 requires the Forest Service, except in emergency circumstances, to work with the miner to secure willing compliance, then issue a notice of noncompliance, and then give appeal rights prior to taking action. How does the Forest Service intend to reconcile these requirements with the 36 CFR 261 procedures?

2817.3 – Inspection and Noncompliance

1. Under Approved Operating Plan. When activities are being conducted under an approved operating plan, regular compliance inspections must be conducted to ensure reasonable conformity to the plan and to guard against unforeseen detrimental effects. The frequency, intensity, and complexity of inspection shall be commensurate with the potential for irreparable and unreasonable damage to surface resources.

2. Without Operating Plan. When operations are being conducted without an operating plan because it was determined none was required, the need for regular inspections shall be determined on a case-by-case basis. Timely inspections shall help assure conformance to the environmental protection requirements of the regulations, as well as identify operations that vary from those described in the notice of intention and which may require an operating plan.

3. Detection. Forest officers shall make note of, and report all operations for which there have not been submitted either notices of intention to operate or operating plans. Such operations shall be identified and inspected as soon as practicable to determine if a plan of operations or a notice of intent is required.

4. Inspector Qualifications. Inspection shall be conducted by Forest officers who are familiar with the equipment and methods needed to find and produce minerals and who can accurately assess the significance of surface resource disturbance. Inspectors should be capable of identifying those activities of an operator which are reasonably necessary to the operation, which ones could perhaps be done differently with less effect on surface resources without endangering or hindering the operation, and which ones are unreasonable or unnecessary.

5. Noncompliance. Wherever practicable, acts of noncompliance should be discussed with the operator, either in person or by telephone, in an attempt to secure willing and rapid correction of the noncompliance. Such discussions shall be made a matter of record in the operator’s case file. Where the operator fails to take prompt action to comply and the noncompliance is unnecessarily or unreasonably causing injury, loss or damage to surface resources, the authorized officer must take prompt noncompliance action. For direction to resolve unauthorized residential occupancy on mining claims. See FSM 2818.

a. Notice of Noncompliance. The first step in any noncompliance action is to serve a written notice of noncompliance to the operator or the operator’s agent, in person, by telegram, or by certified mail. This notice must include a description of the objectionable or unapproved activity, an explanation of what must be done to bring the operation into compliance, and a reasonable time period within which compliance must be obtained. Continued refusal of the operator to comply after notice will usually require enforcement action.

b. Enforcement Action. Civil or criminal enforcement, or a combination of both, are available for enforcement of 36 CFR 228. The decision on which procedure, or combination, to use shall depend upon the particular facts in each case and the probability of success and possible consequences. The Regional mineral staff or the local Office of General Counsel shall be consulted for advice prior to any enforcement action to ensure consistency and conformance with mineral law and regulation. The appropriate U.S. Attorney shall be consulted to coordinate the criminal and civil actions.

(1) Civil Action. Two types of civil relief in Federal District Court are available: damage recovery and injunctive. An action to recover costs of repairing damages or to compensate for irreparable damages would be appropriate for those cases where such damages have already occurred and no further operations were being conducted or likely to be conducted. Such damage suits require extended periods of time for completion. Injunctive relief can be obtained quickly when the facts of a particular case warrant such action. There must be strong justification that the party requesting relief is suffering or will suffer irreparable harm and that harm must usually be incompensible. Moreover, it must be likely that the complainant will actually succeed on the merits of the case.

(2) Criminal Action. In cases where unnecessary and unreasonable damage is occurring and where reasonable attempts fail to obtain an operating plan or to secure compliance with an approved operating plan, the operator may be cited for violation of the appropriate section of 36 CFR 261 or 262, according to existing delegation of authority.

The above quoted policy statement from FSM 2817.3 (5)b(2) commits the Forest Service to only using 36 CFR 261 where unnecessary and unreasonable damage is occurring, and where reasonable attempts to obtain compliance with the 36 CFR 228 Subpart A regulations have failed. This means the procedures at 36 CFR 228 Subpart A must be used first to evaluate and demonstrate the need for the Forest Service to take an enforcement action. To avoid premature use and/or misuse of 36 CFR 261, this FSM direction on when to use 261 against miners needs to be incorporated as part of the new proposed 36 CFR 261 regulation.

A good example of potential abuse is the fact that some Forest Service Regions have arbitrarily set a recreational camping time limit of 14 days for all forest users. We believe the Regions should be distinguishing between those users who are just recreationists and those who are miners operating under the General Mining Laws. If an operator asserts he is operating under the Mining Law, documents that he needs to camp at a site beyond 14 days to conduct activities reasonably incident to his mining operations, and shows that his activities are not likely to cause significant disturbance of surface resources, the Forest Service is obligated to consider the facts of the miner’s case prior to taking enforcement action under 36 CFR 261. In other words, the Forest Service must first demonstrate that the activity requires a Plan of Operations and does not qualify for an exemption to a notice of intent or plan of operations under 36 CFR 228.4(a) before using 36 CFR 261:

(1) A notice of intent to operate is not required for:

(i) Operations which will be limited to the use of vehicles on existing public roads or roads used and maintained for National Forest System purposes; (ii) Prospecting and sampling which will not cause significant surface resource disturbance and will not involve removal of more than a reasonable amount of mineral deposit for analysis and study which generally might include searching for and occasionally removing small mineral samples or specimens, gold panning, metal detecting, non-motorized hand sluicing, using battery operated dry washers, and collecting of mineral specimens using hand tools; (iii) Marking and monumenting a mining claim; (iv) Underground operations which will not cause significant surface resource disturbance; (v) Operations, which in their totality, will not cause surface resource disturbance which is substantially different than that caused by other users of the National Forest System who are not required to obtain a Forest Service special use authorization, contract, or other written authorization; (vi) Operations which will not involve the use of mechanized earthmoving equipment, such as bulldozers or backhoes, or the cutting of trees, unless those operations otherwise might cause a significant disturbance of surface resources;

Furthermore, the definition of occupancy/residency is “over the top” and should be revised. Including “caves & cliff ledges” in the definition is ridiculous and unnecessary.

The proposed rule should clarify that under the Mining Laws one may “use & occupy” National Forest lands under a Notice as long as the use and occupancy is reasonably incident to prospecting, exploring, mining and processing, and there is no significant disturbance of surface resources.

Finally, the proposed rule should clarify that the special use regulations do NOT apply to locatable mineral activity on National Forest lands.

Sincerely,

Laura Skaer Executive Director

LS/kw

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