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Legislative and Regulatory Update
October 2006 by Scott Harn
• Make your votes count
American citizens have responded strongly to a 2006 US Supreme Court decision (Kelo v. City of London) that allowed a city to seize private property by eminent domain.
Voters in numerous states have obtained enough signatures to place strongly worded measures on state ballots that will either curb or outlaw the use of eminent domain.
In addition, many of these measures will require state and local governments to provide just compensation for any new government regulations that restrict the use of private property or otherwise devalue private property.
A sampling shows measures will be on the ballot in numerous states to provide just compensation for new regulations, to prevent seizure by eminent domain, or both, in California (Proposition 90), Washington (Initiative 933), Idaho (Proposition 2), Arizona (Measure 207), Nevada (Nevada Property Owner’s Bill of Rights) and Montana (Initiative 154).
Oregon voters already passed a measure that requires compensation for government regulations, but a new initiative (Measure 39) seeks to prevent a government body from condemning private property if the intent is to convey that property to another private entity.
Please check your ballot and be sure to vote in the General Election on November 6, 2006.
• Court tells Forest Service many access fees are illegal
A federal court in Arizona has told the Forest Service that it can no longer collect user fees for many activities, with implications for hundreds of collection programs across the US.
In this particular case, a hiker was issued citations on two separate occasions for failure to pay a $5 access fee when parking on public lands administered by the Forest Service in the Mt. Lemmon area of Arizona.
The court ruled that the Forest Service was unlawfully charging for general access. Magistrate Judge Charles Pyle stated the Forest Service could only charge fees to citizens who use fully developed parking sites with amenities or fully-developed campgrounds. The judge ruled the Forest Service does not have the authority to collect fees for use of trails, for parking along roads, or for undeveloped, minimally developed or semi-developed sites. The agency is also prohibited from charging for camping at undeveloped sites.
The case is US v. Christine M. Wallace.
• Kensington update
Coeur d’Alene Mines has to negotiate another curve in the road for its Kensington Mine project after the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an injunction that halted some of the construction necessary for the project.
Environmentalists appealed a lower court decision that allowed the company to place waste rock in Lower Slate Lake northwest of Juneau, Alaska.
The injunction applies to cutting trees, building roads or dams and altering the water level of the lake, and will remain in place until the appeal runs its course. Construction of the mine and mill will continue.
Finding Gold With Copper and Turquoise
The signs of copper, which the prospector most commonly sees in the field in outcrops and on the surface, are secondary minerals caused by the action of air and water on the original copper-bearing sulfides that were deposited deep...
Germany Developing Gold Vending Machine
It’s a novel twist on the vending machine: in go the coins, out comes a nugget of gold.
Addressing EPA Overreach: What Dredgers Need to Know
Judge Holds Companies Liable for Some Damage
A federal judge found mining companies liable for at least some of the costs of cleaning up pollution of Idaho’s Silver Valley from a century of mining.
Trade-Ins, Swaps and Like-Kind Exchanges
While most prospectors, mine operators and business owners are aware that “like-kind” exchanges can be an excellent way to postpone the gain resulting when any of the operation’s assets are disposed of, few give any thought to the value...
Melman on Gold & Silver
Sometime during the hippie days of the 1960s, the world became aware of the custom of chanting mantras. At that time, the favorite was the word “OM.” Well, the financial community seems to have recaptured the custom of chanting...
Potential Gold at Old Hydraulic Sites
So why would a modern-day prospector want to learn about a method of mining that was banned by the courts more than a century ago?
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