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Legislative and Regulatory Update
April 2008 by Scott Harn
The Fish & Wildlife Service announced February 27 the delisting of the gray wolf as an imperiled species under the Endangered Species Act.
At press time, the delisting was scheduled to be effective March 27, 2008, though several environmental groups promised to seek an injunction to stop the process pending a lawsuit.
FWS reported that states have sufficient protections in place to protect the wolf.
• Miners need to be heard on wilderness bills
Several Congress members from Nevada are laying the foundation for new wilderness in Esmeralda, Lyon and Mineral Counties.
Senator Reid’s office stated their staff has been meeting with stakeholders regarding the various wilderness designations.
In addition, a pending energy bill includes 106,000 acres of Wilderness in the Wild Sky region of the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest in Washington State (Senate Bill 2616). The wilderness designation is supported by Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash) and Representative Rick Larsen (D-Wash).
Miners are encouraged to contact their representatives in Congress to make sure their voices are heard and potential mining areas are considered for exclusion.
• HR 2016
HR 2016, a bill that would create a National Landscape Conservation system, passed out of committee and has moved to the full House for discussion and a possible vote.
The bill would subject 26 million acres of public lands, currently under the care and control of the Bureau of Land Management, to additional regulations.
It appears to be another attempt by environmental interests to place public lands off-limits to miners and other public land users, and would drastically expand the role of government in land use decisions.
The committee vote was mostly along party lines. Democrats voted for the bill and Republicans against it. Rob Wittman, a Republican from Virginia, was the lone exception and voted for the bill.
Please contact your state representatives in Congress to make your opinions known.
Brighter Days Ahead Reports Nevada Mining Association
A new report predicts brighter days for mining in Nevada if the price of gold maintains at current levels.
From the Editor
The past year was an extremely busy one here at ICMJ’s Prospecting and Mining Journal.
The Golden Highway—Tuolumne County
Heading north into Tuolumne County on California’s Highway 49—the “Golden Highway”—from Mariposa County, you see few traces of the gold rush days because the largest mining town of the period is now covered by Don Pedro Reservoir. If you slow down and take a careful look, along the shores of the lake are numerous streaks of tailings that mark the mines of the old town of Jacksonville.
WSGS Releases New Geologic Maps
The Wyoming State Geological Survey announced ten new geologic maps have been completed and are now available.
More Tips on How to Find Gold with A Detector
When detecting an area that has been cleaned to bedrock and you have new trees growing, always make sure you get your coil as close as possible to the tree. Why?
More Gold Recovered Off Florida Coast
Eleven treasure-laden ships that made up the 1715 Fleet were heading to Spain from Havana on July 31, 1715, when they encountered a hurricane off Florida’s central coast.
Detecting A Trashy Area
Some prospectors would have assumed it was another shotgun shell, but in this case it was 17.6-pennyweight nugget!
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