PLP northern director Clark Pearson stated, “Thanks to the U.S. v. Hicks case, the courts have acknowledged that claimholders are owners of land within the National Forest who are exempt.”

The problem is that extracting gold from hard rock is often a lot more difficult than processing placer gravels. Still, there is some very high-grade ore out there in many old mining areas.

One of the greatest opportunities still available to Americans is the opportunity to stake and own your own mining claim. Much of the Western US consists of lands that are open to claim by any US citizen...