Prospecting in California
Is gold dredging harmful to the environment? I found this article on the Times-Standard.comby John Driscoll. If you are prospecting in California, this might be of interest to you.
"An American Indian tribe and fishing groups are asking the California Department of Fish and Game to impose emergency rules on suction dredge mining for gold in Klamath River basin streams, which they say hurts already struggling salmon and steel-head.
In a petition to the department, the Karuk Tribe, California Trout and the Sierra Fund have asked that rules be tightened while Fish and Game overhauls dredging restrictions. The groups won a court ruling in 2006 that pressed the department to craft new rules, but gold miners intervened, saying rule-making must follow the California Environmental Quality Act process"... http://www.times-standard.com:80/localnews/ci_11413652
- January 10th
I was up fishing on the Klamath last summer and I can tell you the indians have NO respect for the fishery. They fished beyond their quotas, strung nets all the way across the river, dumped fish when they couldn’t sell them and shot any sealion that came within range (threatened to shoot fisherman too). I was throughly disgusted and will never return. They can rot in poverty.