Newsletter Links

Developing news on the issues of dredging and land access are covered closely at the International California Mining Journal thru their web site www.icmj.com .

We are currently experimenting with using PDF files for viewing Newsletter issues on our web. If your not familiar with ADOBE Reader. Depending on your version of Reader and/or your firewall settings. You may need to click on the X in the upper right hand corner to close the Reader to return to this page. If the top portion of you web browser doesn't change, use the Back button.

At the bottom of this page you can read a copy of an e-mail as the webmaster received recently.

Club Members

As most of you know the Govenor of Calif. Signed into law Senate Bill 670
that stopped suction dredging in Calif.

The New 49ers Legal Fund has created a raffle to raise money to help fight
to overcome SB 670.

You can see the prizes and help the cause at this site
http://www.goldgold.com/legal/3-legal_09_fund.pdf .

There are several thousands of dollars in this Raffle.
If you don't think this will effect us, you have no business looking for gold.
Support the cause, because you could be next on the list.

Submitted by Allen C.

THIS IS A MUST READ ARTICLE! There has been as piece of legislation slipped thru the U.S. Senate and is now heading to the House of Representatives. This new law could have an impact on prospecting. Read the article "here",

Dear Douglas,

We want to thank you for taking action in the past using our Save The Trails letter generators to preserve access to your public lands. We thought you would want to know the Omnibus Act S.22 has Risen From The Grave as we predicted it would. Thankfully the AMA and Blue Ribbon Coalition have discovered this in time for you to take action to kill the reincarnation of this extremely bad bill, now in the form of HR 146. It was just voted in the Senate and Passed 77-20, however it is being rushed to the House for a vote by Congress without debate. With your help It can be defeated in Congress. So it is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT TO CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSMAN NOW.

With such a short time frame for action, the best way to tell your Congressman to vote "No" on H.R. 146 is to call. Click here to get the phone number for your Congressman. Enter your zip code in the "Find Your Officials" box and click on the name of your Representative (Congressman).

If you have called please Call Again, If you have not yet please Call your Congressman NOW!!

It only takes a few minutes but makes all the difference

If you would prefer to contact your Legislators with e-mail, please click here. The ARRA has a created a pre-written a letter for your use.

What is HR146? Until recently it was a one page bill regarding the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 Battlefield Acquisition Grant Program to which legislators have now attached their failed 1300 page S.22 Omnibus Act, containing over 160 separate other bills. These newly attached bills have nothing to do with the Revolutionary War, but prove this to be legislation in it's lowest form.

Because of your calls many legislators are now questioning supporting this bill which will cost $10 billion and increases our dependency on foreign energy in a time of economic crisis, while locking up millions of acres from the public.

Immediate action is critical to help keep 2.1 million acres of public land open to all forms of recreation. Please call your Representative and tell everyone you can to do the same.

Your calls can help convince every Congressman to vote "No" on H.R. 146 Omnibus Act of 2009!

Please make the CALL NOW click here to find the number or learn more

You can call anytime of the day or night and leave a message. If their voicemail is full please call back during office hours.

Thanks to AMA, Blue Ribbon and ARRA for keeping track of this slippery Bill

Thanks Please forward this alert to anyone who cares about our economy, environment and preserving public access.

ChDougris Horgan-GreenRider & Your Friends at Save The Trails www.SaveTheTrails.us

Hi,

I am the owner of goldminershq.com and a BOD member of the World Wide Association of Treasure Seekers.

I received a notice from from the club about a new "Land Management Bill" that swept through Congress this week.

Collect a rock on Public Lands and you may lose your car. No joke!

It is important that all Americans who use BLM Lands to contact representatives before the bill, known both as S. 22 and the "Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009" is approved, as expected, and heads to the White House for President Obama's signature.

You can view more info on this:
http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=89733

I also copied & pasted the basic info at the bottom of this page.

PLEASE PASS THIS INFORMATION ALONG TO YOUR MEMBERS.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for your time,

Bruce Harris
Webmaster GMHq

Owner / Mining Consultant
Heavy Metal Mining Company, Springfield, Missouri, USA
Research & development of placer mining equipment and publishing agency.
Heavy Metal Mining Book Store
Opened business 9-11-90

Own & Operate the "Gold Miner's Headquarters" Internet site
www.goldminershq.com.
Opened 6-6-99

Author:
Gold Miner's Handbook, Finding That Perfect Location, Gold
Placer Geology, Modern Dredge Sampling, The Modern Gold
Dredge

Member
World Wide Association of Treasure Seekers (W.W.A.T.S), w.w.w.WATTS.Org
State Director for Missouri and on the WWATS BOD.
Member since 2-19-03

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

YOUR GOVERNMENT AT WORK
Collect a rock, lose your car
Ominous forfeiture provisions in new bill restricting use of federal land
Posted: February 22, 2009
9:43 pm Eastern

© 2009 WorldNetDaily

WASHINGTON - A land management bill that swept through the U.S. Senate last month and is headed for a House vote this week punishes rock collectors and paleontologists with arrest and expropriation of their cars and other equipment for even unknowingly disturbing fossils on public land, say critics.

In the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009, a "forfeiture" provision would let the government confiscate "all vehicles and equipment of any person" who digs up or removes a rock or a bone from federal land that meets the bill's broad definition of "paleontological resource," says a report by Jon Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

"The seizures could take place even before a person and even if the person didn't know they were taking or digging up a 'paleontological resource," writes Berlau. "And the bill specifically allows the 'transfer of seized resources' to 'federal or non-federal' institutions, giving the government and some private actors great incentive to egg on the takings."

Tracie Bennitt, president of the Association of Applied Paleontological Sciences, is protesting the bill's vague language and severe penalties.

"We can visualize now a group of students unknowingly crossing over an invisible line and ending up handcuffed and prosecuted," she wrote to members of Congress.

Subtitle D of the bill called the "Paleontological Resources Preservation Act" would make it illegal to "excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface or attempt to excavate, remove, damage, or otherwise alter or deface any paleontological resources located on Federal land" without special permission from the government.

"Paleontological resource" is defined in the bill as "any fossilized remains, traces, or imprints of organisms, preserved in or on the earth's crust, that are of paleontological interest and that provide information about the history of life on earth." Penalties for violations include up to five years in jail.

Berlau believes picking up rocks could be interpreted as a violation of the law since most would fit the broad definition under the law.

The forfeiture provision is effective before a trial and conviction, making the defendant guilty until proven innocent, Berlau suggests.

Berlau believes the House will take up a vote on the bill this week. He is urging Americans to contact representatives before the bill, known both as S. 22 and the "Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009" is approved, as expected, and heads to the White House for President Obama's signature.