Feb 8

Written by:
2/8/2012 1:31 PM 

The future of prospecting depends on you

By KRISTIE JEFFREY-WHITFIELD
GPAA member

Our most recent outing was a blast! We had about 35 people attend the drywashing/nugget shooting outing through American Prospector Treasure Seeker at one of the GPAA Claims in Barstow, Calif. (Coolgardie area). We had participants from the age of seven on up into their seventies. What a great group of people!

I had the pleasure of taking my 10-year old daughter on her first drywashing trip and her second prospecting trip ever. Another participant brought his two daughters, ages 7 and 9. Those girls were some of the hardest working out there, especially the youngest, Makayla.

I walked around much of the day talking to the participants, taking pictures and getting to see many different styles and techniques of each different prospector. While doing so, many commented about how thrilled they were to see such youngsters out there, especially being little girls, working hard at a hobby that these fellows have been enjoying for years.

I’ve talked to many prospectors about how frustrating it is to see the government closing down more and more roads, leaving us with access to fewer and fewer places not just as prospectors, but as outdoor enthusiasts in general.

I’d like to take a moment to remind fellow prospectors to continue your support of the Public Lands for the People. Let’s do our part to help them while they continue their efforts in helping us as they fight for our rights to prospect on public lands.

If you’ve never had the pleasure of speaking to PLP President Jerry Hobbs, founder of the organization or if you don’t know much about it, we urge you to take a few moments to view the PLP website at www.plp1.org and, if you’re able, maybe become a supportive member. One way that we can all be supportive of their efforts is to remember: If you pack it in, pack it out!
It saddens me to think of the experiences that our kids and the future generations of youngsters may miss out on if our access to public landscontinues to diminish.

PHOTO CAPTIONS

ABOVE: Members show their  support for Public Lands for the People.

LEFT: Young prospectors, Mikayla, Faith and Maya enjoy drywashing  together.

Kristie Jeffrey-Whitfield is an avid prospector and GPAA member whose family owns American Prospector Treasure Seeker, a prospecting and treasure hunting supply store based in Temecula, Calif.

The Gold Prospectors Association of America is the single largest  financial contributor to Public Lands for the People in the on-going fight to preserve the public’s right to access public lands.