The changes we are seeking will most definitely help prospectors, small operations and dredgers. If you haven’t yet read our proposals, you’ll find a link to it at the end of the online version of this article.

Logging on federal land plummeted—over 84% since the 1980s. And that management tool was replaced with—nothing.

We walked around for hours in amazement like little kids that just got let loose in a toy store without adult supervision.

I looked over and saw Ben on his knees, digging at the edge of the Manzanitas, almost underneath them. I thought back to the previous weekend when we were planning this trip—that day had been a “Ben day.”