Legislation & Regulation
More Fiddling While Forests Burn
December 2019 by Greg Walcher
Logging on federal land plummeted—over 84% since the 1980s. And that management tool was replaced with—nothing.
PLP Update
The ESA has become an unwieldy beast that was hijacked by government agencies run amok, and by extreme environmental groups who saw it as a way to lock up public lands and to generate income through exaggerated claims and continuous lawsuits.
Oregon Anti-Dredging Bill
SB 765...would tax suction gold dredgers by charging a $50 annual fee for in-state dredgers and a whopping $2,500 fee for out-of-state dredgers for each county where the miner intends to dredge.
Legislative and Regulatory Update
- PLF sues over critical habitat
- Attorney General ends EPA slush fund
EPA Reopens Comments on Pebble Project
The settlement did not grant an immediate approval for the project, but it did begin to clear the way for the company to apply for federal permits—a path the Obama administration previously had thwarted.
Captain Obvious Strikes Again
The paper’s crack reporters filed requests under the Freedom of Information Act, demanding public release of “secret” emails explaining why the Interior Department recommended, and President Trump approved, shrinking Bears’ Ears and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monuments.
Subscription Required:
The Bawl Mill
• Ask The Experts - How do I obtain a map of Montana gold & sapphire gravel bars?
• Ask The Experts - How do I process this white quartz with black striations?
• Ask The Experts - Does gravel + bedrock = gold?
• Back to Green Valley--With A Sluice
• A Lesson In Underwater Sniping
• Achieving Accurate Metal Detector Discrimination
• My New Passion--Crystal Hunting
• The Half-Mile Claim
• Melman on Gold & Silver
• Mining Stock Quotes and Mineral & Metal Prices
• Gold Prospecting for Better or Worse: White Knuckle Mining
Free:
Legislative and Regulatory Update
• Unique Rare Earth Mine in Texas
• Gold in The Midwest--Part I
• PLP Update: Another Suction Dredge Case Heading to the US Supreme Court