Prospectors forge alliance to battle assault on mining

The Western Mining Alliance has summoned miners and prospectors to a meeting to lay out the background and battle plan of how to organize independent miners and prospectors in California to overturn regulations that are strangling the small-scale and commerical mining community. The meeting, will be held following the regular Shasta Prospectors Club meeting in Redding on Wednesday, Jan 18 at 8 p.m. at Moose Hall, 320 Lake St.

Public comment period extended until Feb. 13

Congratulations. Your calls and e-mails got a 30-day extension. You now have the time to get comments in opposing this huge land grab. Monday, Feb.13 s the new deadline for public comments on the massive San Gabriel Mountains National Recreation Area . Don’t fail to do your part. Please at least send a letter. Don’t forget the National Park Service is also doing the huge Rim of the Valley National Recreation Area study at the same time covering of the same area but far larger in size. Your comments on the San Gabriel Mountains NRA Study now are critical.

Park Service taking over two National Forests

The public comment period on a proposed land grab to create create a huge new national park ecompassing two national forests in Southern California has been extended until Feb. 13.

College professor unjustly attacks metal detectorists

Professor Matthew Zembo has made offensive and irresponsible accusations regarding the conduct of people with metal detectors.

Read this one-sided article: Professor wants battle site protected

We suggest respectfully voicing your concerns regarding his irresponsible accusations and request that the professor retract his statements in a followup article. The article is shoddy journalism. It is is unfair and unbalanced with no representation from metal detectorists or examples to back up any of Zembo’s accusations.

Back Senator Dan Seum’s bill

Louisville, Kentucky needs your support starting today! This month a vote will be taken on the state senate floor in Kentucky regarding whether or not to open up state parks to metal detecting in designated areas.

Please contact Senator Seum thanking him for proposing the bill to allow metal detecting while voicing your opinion on why metal detecting should be allowed. In your email or call, it is very important that you ask the senator to forward your correspondence as a group message so all the voting senators will receive your correspondence.

The city of Louisville has all of their city parks closed and they base their decision on state policy. It is imperative that we all voice our concerns. Senator Seum can be contacted at (502) 564 2450 or Dan.Seum@lrc.ky.gov

By Chuck Cushman
American Land Rights Association

The National Park Service planned the comment period during Christmas and New Year’s Day hoping you would be asleep. Let’s show them. Attention all land rights activists nationwide: To be successful stopping land grabs in your area, all groups must support one another. Even if you live outside California, the giant land grab described below is important for you to help stop. Please take the time to send comments. It will make a big difference to you when they come for your area ...  and they will.

Forest ‘roadless rule’: environmental victory or job killer?

The 10^th Circuit Court of Appeals moved closer to resolving a battle over a Clinton-era executive rule protecting national forests from new roads. But critics see the 'roadless rule' as a job-killing block on the country's natural resources. Environmentalists on Saturday hailed as one of the biggest conservation victories in decades a federal court ruling that upheld a "roadless rule" to protect massive swaths of national forest.

Interior to examine integration of mining regulation, mine reclamation programs

WASHINGTON – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today launched a process to evaluate how to best integrate the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement (OSM) into the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to further strengthen the bureaus’ mining regulations and abandoned mine land reclamation programs.  The initiative will be undertaken with the coordination and input of employees, Members of Congress, and interested parties. 

GOP seeking waiver of environmental laws at border

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal agents trying to patrol the U.S.-Mexico border say they're hampered by laws that keep them from driving vehicles on huge swaths of land because it falls under U.S. environmental protection, leaving it to wildlife — and illegal immigrants and smugglers who can walk through the territory undisturbed. A growing number of lawmakers are saying such restrictions have turned wilderness areas into highways for criminals. In recent weeks, three congressional panels, including two in the GOP-controlled House and one in the Democratic-controlled Senate, have moved to give the Border Patrol unfettered access to all federally managed lands within 100 miles of the border with Mexico. Two of the panels expanded the legislation's reach to include the border with Canada.

The votes signal a brewing battle in Congress that will determine whether border agents can disregard environmental protections as they do their job. Dozens of environmental laws were waived for the building of the border fence, and activists say this is just another conservative attempt to find an excuse to do away with environmental protections. But agents who have worked along the border say the laws crimp their power to secure the border.

 Call Congress to cut funds for EPA Corps wetlands regulations

You must take immediate action! Deadline Friday, November 11. If you miss the deadline, continue to make the calls until Congress acts. By acting quickly, you can cut off the EPA money supply. You can stop them from going forward with their new Clean Water Act Wetlands regulations. You did it with Salazar’s “Wild Lands” Wilderness land grab. You took away their money. Now it is time to do it to EPA and the Corps of Engineers. Don’t wait. Call now! Senate working on money bill right now. Call your Congressman and both Senators.

• Call any Congressman at (202) 225-3121.
• Call any Senator at (202) 224-3121