Everyone... Just more blatant BLM actions in their latest attempt to screw all us gold prospectors/miners royally.....as IF they haven't done enough already at Cache Creek and everywhere else over the years...
This comment period will run only from Dec. 5, 2014, to Jan. 9, 2015. Get fired up! Send in your response!
FYI, I sent Kalem at BLM a 3-page, 7 point response/rebuttal to this draft plan back on 15 Jul 14. Back then their draft Management Plan was only 13 pages, now they have grown it to 61 pages! Government, bureaucracy, red tape.....go figure. Sadly, it appears that BLM took absolutely none of my inputs first time around. So, I'll review this new draft and resend!
I/We need ANYONE and EVERYONE, from all across the country, to tell BLM "NO".....no to the time closure, no to the only 25 acres out of 2,160 acres, no to just hand panning only in the creek, no to the idiotic OSHA excavation rules, no to the $25 permit fee, no to basically everything!
They need to keep it open ALL year, open it up to ALL equipment, make gold prospecting the #1 priority! The Elk do fine wintering there as it is, the invasive Brown Trout do fine in the creek as it is... Both have millions of other acres to winter on and dozens of other creeks to swim in, including the Ark river..........BUT, we prospectors ONLY have Cache Creek on a 120 mile stretch of the Arkansas River drainage from Leadville to Canyon City that's open to the public and NOT on the river. When the river is too high, too fast, iced over, Cache Creek is it! The only two river spots open to the public in this 120 mile stretch is the Elephant Rock area just North of Buena Vista and the Point Bar area about 12 miles South of Salida.
We absolutely need Cache Creek open all year, open to all prospecting forms, open with gold prospecting as the #1 priority! Not the suboptimal "balance" of us, Elk, trout and riparian values. Know what? IT'S A GOLD MINE FOLKS! It was hydrauliced for decades. The valley is all torn up. It will never, ever be a pristine High Colorado valley again. Just look at it from Google earth. The beavers have the whole lower end of the creek totally dammed up, slowing the flow and causing ponding/silt to collect and the trout do just fine...
Thousands of folks a year visit Cache Creek, from all over the USA, because, up until now, it's one of the few places still open within a 5 state drive that actually has gold. So, everyone....PLEASE download the draft EA, review it....send Kalem at Canyon City BLM your comments on what WE.....the public......want and need from OUR public lands!
FYI: MY first reply to BLM is attached at the very end.
Randy
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From: Lenard, James (Kalem) [mailto:jlenard@blm.gov]
Sent: Friday, December 05, 2014 9:16 AM
To: undisclosed-recipients:
Subject: Fwd: Press Release: BLM seeks comment on preliminary environmental assessment for recreational placer activities at Cache Creek
Hello,
Please see the press release below regarding the comment period on the draft management plan and environmental assessment for Cache Creek.
As always feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to discuss the draft plan further.
--
Kalem Lenard
Outdoor Recreation Planner, Royal Gorge Field Office
3028 E Main Street
Canon City, CO 81212
719-269-8538
jlenard@blm.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Dec. 3, 2014
Contact: Kyle Sullivan, Public Affairs Specialist, 719-269-8553
BLM seeks comment on preliminary environmental assessment for recreational placer activities at Cache Creek
CANON CITY, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management Royal Gorge Field Office is seeking public comments on a preliminary environmental assessment and business plan for recreational placer activities at Cache Creek.
The preliminary EA identifies an overall strategy for managing recreational placer activities at Cache Creek. The proposed alternative seeks to reduce impacts to sensitive resources and address health and human safety concerns through a permit system that would allow for a wider variety of placer activities while putting protection measures in place. The BLM is also considering a fee to aid in managing this resource.
The preliminary environmental assessment can be found here: http://www.blm.gov/co/st/en/fo/rgfo/min ... creek.html.
Over the past several years, recreational placer activities at Cache Creek have increased dramatically. Greater visitation has led to user conflicts and damage to the area’s natural resources, prompting the BLM and stakeholders to take a look at recreation use on the parcel and develop a strategy for moving forward.
This comment period will run from Dec. 5, 2014, to Jan. 9, 2015.
Comments concerning the proposed action, alternatives and identification of environmental issues are most helpful. For additional information or to submit a comment, please contact Kalem Lenard at 719-269-8538 or email comments to rgfo_comments@blm.gov. Keep up with Royal Gorge Field Office planning efforts at http://blm.gov/3zld.
Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment—including your personal identifying information—may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.
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From: Randy Witham [mailto:randywitham@centurylink.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 15, 2014 7:17 PM
To: 'jlenard@blm.gov'
Cc: 'Carter, Stephanie'
Subject: Cache Creek Prospecting Policy Change Proposal Inputs
Importance: High
Kalem,
It was great talking to you a few weeks back concerning Cache Creek...
I have been out of state for several weeks and gave our conversation and the draft Cache Creek Placer Area Management Plan a lot of thought. As a very "interested party" I'd like to offer the following inputs to the draft plan, per your request:
1). Manage Cache Creek for what it really is, a gold mine:
As much as BLM desires to balance gold prospecting, riparian and wildlife habitats equally, that simply means all three suffer a suboptimal outcome. Truth be told, Cache Creek is a gold mine. Prospectors need the # 1 priority at Cache Creek. Not the # 3 priority.
Since the 1860s until today, gold has been mined in that valley and on that property. As you know, it's incredible torn up from decades of old time hydraulicing, booming, ground sluicing and such, with evidence all over seen in the many ditches, cliff faces, flumes, cobble piles, etc. It's been slowly recovering over the last 100 years, but it will never be pristine, all natural, postcard perfect looking land like the zillions of acres of national forest that surround it, or that we already have in the state.
Mining never stopped because the miners ran out of gold, they were forced to end large scale hydraulic operations, the most profitable method at the time, due to a lawsuit. Since Cache Creek is one of only three open to the public BLM areas in 120 miles of Arkansas River valley between Leadville and Canyon City and the only one usable when the Arkansas River is flooding/too high, or frozen over, or effectively closed for trout spawning season, we should capitalize on its amazing attribute....gold.
The trout swim and live in the creek regardless of mining activity, or beaver activity for that matter. The trout in Cache Creek are non-native, invasive Brown trout. We have no rare, endangered native subspecies of Colorado cutthroat trout in Cache Creek...the Greenback, the Rio Grande or the Colorado. The trout do fine in Cache Creek and often hold in pools near me or even swim right up my sluice or down as they move up/down the creek. They have dozens of other creeks that flow into the river for them.
The elk and other wildlife do just fine and have zillions of acres of forest land to live in. The elk roam as they please and use Cache Creek regardless of mining activity, normally in the late fall & winter, when the weather runs most prospectors off anyways. The relatively few trees and bushes that are undercut/killed each year due to digging & mining are nothing in the big picture......or compared to all the trees/bushes destroyed by lightning strikes, beavers, elk browsing and beetles/fungus in this valley and in nearby forests.
However, the prospecting public............doesn't have any better place to go than Cache Creek for hundreds of miles. People come to Cache Creek from all over the U.S. because it's got good gold and too many other good places have been closed to the public to prospect.
2). Keep Cache Creek Open All Year Around:
The other two open to the public BLM areas at Pointe Bar and the Elephant Rock campground are both on the Arkansas River. They are directly affected by the annual snow pack melt/runoff, other flooding events, freezing over in winter and prohibitions on powered/mechanized ops from 1 Oct to 31 March each year due to fish spawning considerations. This means that for most of the year they are useless to prospectors. Cache Creek can be successfully prospected/mined most of the year, even in the winter time by a few hardy souls like me. Keep it open all year around.
3). Open Cache Creek up to all forms prospecting & mining methods, both non-mechanized and mechanized:
Technological improvements in prospecting & mining equipment has been a boon to the hobby, whereby fine gold lost by the old timers can now be effectively recovered. Cache Creek has a lot of fine gold. Gas, solar & battery powered suction dredges, high bankers, powered sluices and many different types of spiral wheels, mini-sluices, Gold Cubes and the like can effectively allow water to be pumped from the creek to the spot to be mined, or carried in buckets to the spot. The water in the creek can be used and reused endlessly. This modern equipment allows for less effort & wasted time in carrying buckets of gold bearing material, from sometimes great distances, to the creek to be processed there. This would allow for less sediment and sand/grave to be introduced into the creek. Gas and solar/battery powered dry washers too. Hand panning and hand sluicing are slow, less productive methods and difficult for many older people, kids and people with disabilities to do.
Cache Creek is a gold mine. Prospectors come in all different experience levels and have varying levels of interest. Some are newbies that simply want to pan for a little color and go home happy. Others want to utilize the newest equipment, powered equipment and work hard at finding what they can. Prospectors should be the ones to decide on the equipment depending on the conditions, the goal for the day and what they can afford to buy and operate.
4). Allow wheeled barrels, carts and buggies to transport equipment & material:
Sometimes the best spots to work are a long ways from parking at the Granite Cemetery or placering area parking lots. Many of us simply want to get away from the crowd, get out into the valley, out onto the vast property, be alone to prospect, not be herded into a confined area, tripping over each other. Many people are older, have disabilities and can't carry a lot of equipment, food, water, etc. great distances, especially in the thin 9,200 to 9,500 foot air. Families with small children would benefit too. Being able to load their stuff on a wheeled buggy or in a wheeled barrel would allow people to safely and more easily prospect. I am not talking gas powered 4WD Jeeps, vehicles, 4-wheelers and/or ATVs, just non-powered aids with wheels.
5). Let the miners mine:
No sense trying to protect people from themselves too much. People have to dig holes to find gold bearing material to work. A good spot may get enlarged by multiple miners over a time. Expecting them to fill their holes in when they leave and then re-dig their holes back open when they return is simply unrealistic. A lot of effort goes into pitching rocks, sampling, finding a good pay streak/material and working it, wider or deeper over time. Nobody wants to hurt themselves, but on occasion some might. The draft proposes that prospectors must, "Following OSHA guidelines for excavations, rules would be developed to limit hole size and angle of walls that persons may dig. Details of the specific rule would be further established through the terms and conditions of the permit."
Talk about too much government! Is a BLM Ranger or agent going to spend all day, every day walking the property with a tape measure and angle finder to enforce OSHA excavation rules, really? Proposing sluices be only 10 inches or less in width, really? Drywashers limited to 1/2 yard production per hour, really? Is someone from BLM going to stand there and count shovelfuls or count buckets run to determine and limit to 1/2 yard an hour? BLM already says they are supposedly under manned to "police" Cache Creek as they would like...
Making things too complex, too restrictive will only lead to failure. Or is that the goal? Proposed "Leave No Trace" ethics may apply handsomely to camping/hiking and the Boy Scouts, but the reality is prospecting/mining inherently involves moving dirt, digging holes, pitching & piling rocks, etc. It's a failure from the word go to believe one can prospect and "leave no trace". Cache Creek is a gold mine, so let's just accept the digging and holes and evidence of mining activity as reality and how this property should be utilized. The VAST majority of people that go out to Cache Creek in my 8+ years of being out there are prospectors. Maybe an occasional hunter or two in the Fall. Maybe some mountain bikers in the summer that want to ride FR 398 all the way to the top of the hill by the Gold Basin Mine. For the nature photographer or landscape painter or hiker we have zillions of acres of pristine, untouched, virgin national forest & other BLM land.
On all the "safety" concerns expressed in the draft, I'd be very curious to know just how many prospectors/miners have actually hurt themselves to the extent they had to be medivac'd to a hospital or have suffered serious injury since January 2000 when BLM acquired the property. We have to rescue hikers and 4-wheelers and snowmobilers who hurt themselves all the time. I have never heard of a prospector getting seriously hurt at Cache Creek in the 8+ years that I have been going there. I know a pop-up trailer caught fire several years back, but nobody was hurt as I understand it.
6). No permit, no fee required:
The BLM is well funded each year with over $1.2 billion taxpayer dollars. Public lands need to be open, easy to access and free from unnecessary red tape, bureaucracy, permits, fees and the like. Government should remove roadblocks and hindrances to use and enjoyment, not add to them. Overly restrictive and complex rules/policy and a permit for fee will only ensure there will be confusion, misinterpretation and conflicts between the BLM and prospectors.
The public should not be made to pay twice for what BLM should be providing as part of their mission. Continue partnering with the GPOC or other prospecting clubs to provide volunteer oversight and a presence during the busiest three summer months. If anything, post signage that all prospecting is done at the individual's own risk and leave it at that.
7). Advertise Cache Creek as a Prospector Friendly BLM destination:
While rafting & kayaking may be the bigger tourist attractions in the Arkansas River valley, I know that lots of Colorado and out of state prospectors come to our area each summer/year. They contribute to the local economy by buying gas, food, sundries and even staying in lodging if not camping. Many divide their time flyfishing, rafting, hiking and doing a great many other outdoor activities. With all the anti-mining actions taken by politicians in other states and all the bans/closures/prohibitions by governmental agencies and departments, it's getting harder each year to find a prospector "friendly" location to go and enjoy, mine, find some gold. We desperately need places like Cache Creek for prospectors just as much as we need open rivers for rafters and fishermen, back roads for 4-wheelers, mountain bikers, horseback riders, etc.
In summary, let the prospectors/miners be the # 1 priority up a Cache Creek.
Let's open it up, make it easier to enjoy....get over the dig holes, few undercut trees and so called "damage" to the environment. Google Earth shows us that was already done big time. Today's prospectors are "small time" in comparison. We could draw people in from all over the country, meet their needs and boost the local economy even more than today. The more prospecting at Cache Creek the less there will be on other areas of greater concern to USFS & BLM. There's a huge pent up demand for places like Cache Creek.
BLM could be the hero here. Let's deliver it!
V/R,
Randy
Randy L. Witham
Gold Adventures, LLC
Buena Vista, Colorado 81211
1-719-395-2081
They pic Xmas season as everyone is extremely busy trying to celebrate whilst they steal our rights the summabeaches 
John
OMG just got dragged into court cases..................................................goodby life 
