Gold Prospecting on the Rogue River Halted???

[cowboy444]

Gold Prospecting on the Rogue River Halted???
By Randy Waters aka cowboy444

It is my great honor and privilege to be a prospector, and a member of three clubs.1. Gold Prospectors Association of America, 2. North Bend Prospectors from Coos Bay/ North Bend, Oregon, and 3. Douglas County Prospectors from Roseburg. Each month the clubs have outings so that their members can go out and look for gold. While we don't always find it, we do have a great time. For the last two years I've hosted an outing at Foster Bar on the Rogue River at river mile 35. This is my third year. Last year just as our outing was about to start, the Forest Service informed us that there was NO PROSPECTING on that section of the Rogue River. After we had our outing I contacted Nancy Schweiger in the Gold Beach Forest Service and tried to explain our actions and intentions on the river. I might note here that while we were discussing this, there was an armed Forest Service Employee standing behind me like I was a criminal. Nancy Schweiger took my e-mail information and promised to keep me informed of anything that would directly affect my use of the river. I NEVER heard another word from her!
This year I decided to invite both the North Bend Prospectors and the Douglas County Prospectors to come on the same week-end. This week-end by the way was the week-end after The Gathering of the People. I thought it might be a better idea to contact the Forest Service and see if we could use the same Big Bend area to camp and have our outing. April Skaaren of the Forest Service asked me how many people were expected and I said there might be as many as 75-100. She immediately informed me that we couldn't use that area without a permit. She e-mailed me a permit for next year. If I had said 74 people then I wouldn't need a permit however that area may not have been available. Then she told me that the Forest Service was planning to burn the field if the weather conditions were in their favor. I informed her that most of our membership was over 40 years of age ranging up into their 80s and that would be very bad for their health. Her comment was that we should be prepared to move to another location. Folks, this is your land and my land we're talking about and they're telling me to plan to go somewhere else???

On Tuesday afternoon, September 21st I received a call from Will Sayne of the Forest Service. He wanted to know:
WHO: North Bend Prospectors and Douglas County Prospectors. anywhere from 30 to 100 members may attend of the 400 plus members of the two clubs.
WHEN: September 24,25,26
WHERE: Foster Bar at river mile 35
HOW: only with pans, shovels and sluices in the wetted area of the river as I understood the regulations.. Non motorized equipment only.
WHY: To have fun, find gold, and enjoy the outdoors.
On Wednesday morning I went into the Gold Beach Forest Service building to see if Will Sayne had any more questions. After waiting 25 minutes for him to appear, I was surrounded by him, Nancy Schweiger and April Skaaren who informed me that their boss, Karla Gallegos, Forest Mineral Administrator from the Grants Pass Ranger District had told them to inform me that that area of the Rogue River had been "Withdrawn from Mineral Entry." And there was to be NO PROSPECTING. Karla Gallegos needs to bone up on her mining laws. Withdrawn from mineral entry means I or you cannot file a claim in this area. This is PUBLIC DOMAIN. And open to the public. This is my land and your land to recreate in.
When our discussion was over they told me to go ahead with our outing this year but it was going to be the last year as they were all learning the laws. It is important for them and you to understand that nothing in their rules supercedes the 1866 and 1872 mining laws. As I was about to leave, April Skaaren informed me that the host at Foster Bar had called her to inform her that I had asked to put a porta potty in the campground because it is quite a walk(2/10 of a mile)to the restroom and as I said our members range in age from the 20s to the 80s. She told me in no uncertain terms that a porta potty was not allowed and if the members had a hard time walking that far they might consider NOT COMING. The porta potty showed up while I was down at the river finding gold. The driver only comes up to the Agness area on Wednesdays of each week so it will be here til next Wednesday.

On Friday morning April Skaaren showed up in camp looking for me. I was down at the river gold prospecting so she gave Barbara Jorge a letter to give to me.
And I Quote:

September 24, 2010
Randy,
I just wanted to document our conversation of the past couple of weeks.

1. Per your telephone conversation with April Skaaren, you informed her that you wanted to have an event and camp at Big Bend with 75 people. You were informed that the Big Bend area was not an option due to the possibility of burning the area. We have heard numbers from 25 to 100 people coming to the event. You need a non-commercial group use permit if you have 75 or more people coming to you event.

2. Also, per your Wednesday conversation with April and Will Sayne, you were informed that a portable toilet was not allowed to be dropped off in the Foster Bar Campground and the campground has limited space and would probably not hold as many people as you were expecting. We will allow this use for this year.

3. April has mailed you an application for next years's event. Please contact her 6 months prior to the planned event for next year and we can work through the details.

4. The burn is expected to take place on Monday 9/27/2010 with preparations starting at 9:30 am. Please inform your event participants not to be in the area after that time.

If you have any questions about the permit process please contact April Skaaren, River Permit Manager at 541-247-3647.

Nancy Schwieger
Recreation Staff

End of Quote.

On Monday morning Barbara Jorge and I drove down river to Cougar Lane to have breakfast while the Forest Service prepared to burn the Big Bend Area. While at Cougar Lane we ran into a couple from California who had been down to the river looking for gold. They were a little disappointed that they hadn't found any. Barbara told them about Foster Bar and showed them the 3 vials I was keeping my gold in. About half an hour after we returned to camp at Foster Bar, Lew and his wife Rose, from California, came up. I offered to take them down to the river and show them where to pan. They jumped at the chance to find some Oregon gold. When we arrived at the river I was surprised to find a 10HP Intek motor and 328 gallon per minute pump and hose laying next to the river with the hose in the river. I took several pictures to document the action. I'm not allowed to use a dredge or other motorized equipment in this area and yet it's okay for the Forest Service to do it when they feel like it. I took pictures of it and the Coos Forest Patrol tanker truck that showed up to fill with water. After 4 hours of cleaning bedrock cracks Lew and I returned to camp so that he could get back to Agness RV Park where they were staying. I was doing some repair work on my utility trailor when a Forest Service truck pulled up and stopped. They inquired about how bad the smoke had been in the campground. Visibility had been reduced to about 150 feet but Barbara and Rose hadn't been discomforted by it. The gentleman introduced himself as Allen Vandermeer from the Gold Beach Ranger District. I told him I had a problem with the staff in Gold Beach and would be going into the office on Wednesday or Thursday. Allen said that if I had a problem, it was probably him I should be speaking to. I explained about the "Wild and Scenic River Act" the "1866 and 1872 Mining Law" "Withdrawn from Mineral Entry" and what it meant. The dredging regulations as I understood them. And generally how I felt that prospectors were getting the dirty end of the stick. I explained that a boater could use the river any time of the year. A fisherman could use a motor on his boat below Watson Creek, which is 1 mile upstream from Foster Bar. I explained how Jerry's Jet Boats could transport several thousand people upriver every year but I couldn't use a motor on my dredge during specific "In-Water Timing" as set by Oregon Fish and Wildlife. He impressed me as a man who would look further into the problems that prospectors are experiencing on the Rogue River. I hope I get a chance to introduce him to some of the people I've met that know so much more than I do about the Rules, Regulations and Laws governing what I love to do in the outdoors.

We had a total of 28 members and 2 guests show up for the outing. The guests had a great time and joined the club.
I personnally had a great showing in the amount of gold I found. While it was all flakes and specks it looks pretty impressive in the little glass vials I keep it in. Everyone was gone by 4:30 pm on Sunday but Barbara and I stayed for two more days because I'm pretty sure there was still some gold in that crack I was working.

It is important to note that the Bureau of Land Management(BLM) U.S. Forest Service, Department of Enviromental Quality(DEQ) and Oregon State Lands all have their hooks into writing regulations to stop or control you from enjoying your public land. They don't want us to prospect, fish, hunt, 4 wheel, hike, or camp on our land. It's time to take back our country.
OH, By the way. Did you hear that Governor Kulengowski decided there was too many prospectors coming from California so he and Peter Defazio are going to lock up another BIG( 100s of thousands of acres)CHUNK of our land (Siskiyou Project)so we can't go in there and use our land any more.

I implore you all to take back your land before the enviromentalists and whack jobs have us living in compact living groups so that the land can revert back to pre-Columbus times with No roads and No people. That is the manifesto of Earth First, a radical and criminal enviromental group. If you have any doubts I suggest that you go to the public Library and check out a book by Holly Swanson titled "Set Up and Sold Out."
As a side note, I had to get a copy from the Gold Beach Library through their interagency lending library and that copy came from Louisianna.


My contact information: NOT TO BE PUBLISHED! Only for verification.
Randy Waters
28555 Hunter Creek Loop. Space 36
Gold Beach, OR 97444
phone 541-247-7880
cell 541-373-0259

[Hoser John]

sic sic sic CENSORED CENSORED MOTHER CENSORED PIECE A CENSORED IGNORANUS BUREAURTZ should be sued. Our byatch forest queen is pulling the exact same crappola and going to court with the county now. Sad state a affairs the US is in and getting worse by the minute. My hats off to ya sir and much respect for NOT going postal on these insipid worthless byatchs-John

[YellowFever]

:evil: sic sic sic CENSORED CENSORED MOTHER CENSORED PIECE A CENSORED IGNORANUS BUREAURTZ should be sued. Our byatch forest queen is pulling the exact same crappola and going to court with the county now. Sad state a affairs the US is in and getting worse by the minute. My hats off to ya sir and much respect for NOT going postal on these insipid worthless byatchs-John

2nd that!!