Take a stand and join PLP

[Golden Dreams]

Jerry,
Thank you for keeping everyone informed of whats going on in the state. We are at a critical point right now and it is imperative that anyone who loves to prospect or just loves the outdoors, takes a stand and speaks out against some of the injustices that are being carried out against the American people. If we dont speak up and be heard, we could lose everything. I will be attending the Santa Clarita meeting and you can be assured that my voice well be heard.
We are under attack and the Extreme envirementalists are on the verge of shutting us down forever. I know it takes a lot of money to feed the lawyers to fight for us, So our club "San Fernando Valley Prospectors" will be donating 500 dollars to PLP. I encourage all other clubs and interested parties to donate what they can at this time or we could lose it all.
Jerry, once again I want thank you for fighting this battle for us. I honestly believe that if it wasnt for PLP, I would not be mining today.

[CalGoldDredger]

Take a stand I will but not with those bloodsucking lawyers.
Just look where their injunctions have ended us. The All or Nothing approach has landed them an ALL as in closed for ALL.
What might have been a small sacrifice turned to a full on statewide ban for all. Thanks, but not only no, but HECK NO.

As far as the CDFG meetings, as always just another show us tell us and blah blah blah.
They are just going through the motions to make it appear to be fair even though it was all predetermined, bought, and paid for long ago.
They don't want to get sued, ya know, by the same bloodsucking laywers.
I hope that I am terribly wrong and this true hardship will end so we will be dredging in 2012 or sooner with the same prior freedoms we had. Keyword-HOPE.

I am banking that the Sierra will once again be open for us, with a no salmon - no problem philosophy.
But that too could all be wiped away again by a repeat performance from the same laywers lining their pockets with our gold.
Just how this all started, greed and the mining of miners on a proportionately larger scale than normally seen. From this injustice, the current dredge ban, other injustices from within may be sorted out once and for all.

I can appreciate you not just sitting around or quiting like a goodly amount of the miners are but the approach is everything now as you said it is a "critical point" if that has not already past us by.
Let's just wait and see what the draft beholds before we call up the bloodsuckers and make this situation go on forever. Less than a month and we will know which way the tower leans.

[Mark]

Don't be offended at my following comments CDG, I understand your viewpoint on this and respect you for it.

Who should we compromise with/to first? The enviros? Indians? CDFG? Fishermen? BLM? Kayakers? Whitewater rafting businesses? City dwelling vacation home owners who do not like hearing the dredges running on their peaceful weekends? There is a long line of different groups waiting to advance their agendas. The problem is that the mining community is the only ones compromising. We are going progressively backwards while the other agendas are moving forward. When should we decide that we have compromised enough? Compromise should be a 2 way street and I have yet to see that. If the anti-dredging agendas do not get exactly what they want they file a lawsuit. If that lawsuit does not go exactly as they want it, they file another lawsuit. I believe that this cycle will continue until they get what they want, a permanent dredging ban. Anything less than a full permanent ban will result in continued lawsuits. We like to live in the fantasy that dredges will be allowed back in the water with tougher restrictions and that will be the end of it and we can go on dredging forever. Not very good odds on that at all.

To some of us, gold dredging is a hobby, others it is a full time job. Some on the board do not know another way of earning a living, so it is a necessity. Whatever our circumstances are, we all have a common interest and goal, and that is to defeat each and every challenge that threatens us. I feel that until all mining groups, clubs, PACs, and individuals unite to stand as one, we are fighting a loosing battle.

The "one bite at a time" method that is being used against gold dredging is also being used by the progressives who are ruining our country. The rights and values that our country was built upon and made us great are slowly and steadily being compromised away. They will never, never willingly give us anything back that we have lost already. That is what has led to the rise of the Tea Party. We have compromised more that we ever should have, now it's time to take some back.

I'm going back to lurking before some chucks a cobble at me.

[CalGoldDredger]

Mark, no offence taken at all. I too respect your opinion and agree with some of what you said.

Just wish you could have been here in California for the last 30 or so years and seen what has happened to suction dredge mining and the exploitation
of what was once a simple, quiet, and freely practiced mining method, a tradition for some of us, promoted into a large scale commercialized profit driven mess and the generated problems of such.
Only then could one truly comprehend.
I wish it was as simple as those responsible fixing their rendered problems but it has grown into something so big that god himself can’t remedy.
Their burden has now been forced upon us all, like it or not, not just where it was rightfully due.

"losing battle" it is and if I had the choice to cut off a limb (or a cancerous tumor in this case) as a small sacrifice to get back to suction dredge mining as I was, I would do so without any doubt.

[Mark]

Hey, I wish I could have been there for the last 30 years or so also

[CalGoldDredger]

Definitely don't want to be here now and maybe for the next 30 ?????? Uncertain what will become of our Golden State.

[h20prospector]

I didn't know where to post this, but I thought this would be appropriate. Just got a call from Jerry Hobbs telling me I was a winner in PLP's recent raffle. Figuring I won one of the bottom prizes, I grumpily said OK what did I win. I almost fell out of my chair when he was told I won first prize; the Keene 3" combo unit. I just joined PLP, and bought around 3-4 books of tickets figuring I was making a donation, never dreaming I would get the phone call I just got. Talk about taking a stand and joining PLP! While I'm happy as a lark, this will put a dent in my 2010 tax return, unless I keep real quite.

[CalGoldDredger]

At least you won something you can actually use and not the forbidden dredge.

If you own a house and buy mining equipment it can be applied as a tax deduction.
A good justification for going out and buying more.

[h20prospector]

At least you won something you can actually use and not the forbidden dredge.

If you own a house and buy mining equipment it can be applied as a tax deduction.
A good justification for going out and buying more.

Not exactly sure how to do that. I do own a house, and via a couple of books of raffle tickets I'm the proud owner of a new Keene 1753H power sluice combo unit. I have to get ride of my 2008 Subaru wagon and get something more practical to haul my equipment around. If you know how the tax deduction works for the situation you mentioned, send me a PM and we can discuss in detail. Don't know if it works in Colorado though.

h20

[CalGoldDredger]

You must purchase the equipment can't be a gift or prize as in this case.
It is on your federal tax return ask your preparer or use one of those tax programs like turbotax it is on there. Mining related expenses and/or equipment purchases for that tax year.
In 2006 I wrote off $10K and this year looks about the same or more.