The following is a media release issued by the California Department of Fish and Game:

EUREKA, Calif. – A major milestone was reached today in the effort to establish Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) along California’s coast. In a 3-0 vote, the California Fish and Game Commission (Commission) today approved and adopted regulations for the north coast MPAs, completing the network of MPAs in California’s open coastal waters, from Mexico to the Oregon state line. The network of MPAs is the first in the United States to be designed from the ground up as a science-based network, rather than a patchwork of independent protected areas without specific goals and objectives.

Dear Mr. Hobbs,

The purpose of this letter is to support your efforts to preserve the constitutional, historical and property rights of miners and to provide you with my perspective on the impact that mining and suction dredging restrictions have on the public health and safety in El Dorado County. As you are aware, miners have contributed to the rich and enduring legacy of El Dorado County. It was, after all, the gold rush of 1849, spurred by the discovery of gold in Coloma, El Dorado County that began the rich and prosperous path to California’s statehood. Obviously, miners contributed to the development and economic vitality of our state and many of our local communities.

California property and mining rights groups, including Public Lands for the People and Western Mining Alliance, have filed a lawsuit challenging the state’s suction dredging regulations. The suit was filed April 12 and the case went to court May 31, but the hearing was rescheduled for June 28 in San Bernardino. The new suction dredge draft regulations were released last year and modified regulations were adopted by the California Department of Fish and Game in February. The new regulations place a limit on the number of dredging permits issued per year to 1,500 among other restrictions. The limit has angered small-scale suction dredge gold miners across the state because the DFG was fully aware there were more than 4,000 dredgers in California before the first two-year state moratorium on dredging, Senate Bill 670.

A federal appeals court ruling Friday makes it tougher for small-time gold miners to work their claims on federal lands across the West. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in a split decision that the U.S. Forest Service has to consult biologists from other agencies before allowing miners to do anything that might harm salmon protected by the Endangered Species Act.

ELKO — U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop said after a congressional field hearing Monday in Elko that “more questions came out than answers.” He said that was especially true on the question of how the U.S. Forest Service came up with the authority to close roads as part of its Travel Management Plans.

The two sides battling over suction dredging for gold in the state’s rivers don’t agree on much. But both environmental and pro-mining voices are decrying the new regulations recently released by the state on the activity.

Public Lands for the People has been fighting and litigating for people’s land rights for more than 20 years. Now, with the support of the Western Mining Alliance, the two mining rights have teamed up to sue the California Department of Fish and Game in San Bernardino County Superior Court over the state ban on suction dredging.

SAN BERNARDINO — California property and mining rights groups filed a lawsuit April 12 challenging the state’s recently released suction dredging regulations. Public Lands for the People, Western Mining Alliance and Keene Engineering, among other plaintiffs seek to challenge the science and process behind the state’s recently completed Environmental Impact Report.

Earlier today the Department of Fish and Game took final action to adopt updated regulations governing suction dredge mining under Fish and Game Code section 5653 et seq. The Department took final action under the California Environmental Quality Act, Administrative Procedure Act (APA), and the Fish and Game Code.

Public Lands for the People is calling on miners to help fight the battle to defeat the suction dredge mining ban in California.

“In order to compare the 1994 regulations with the new regulations on suction dredging, I need to know who has been harmed by the new regulations as far as dredging season changes, nozzle sizes, etcetera,” said PLP President Jerry Hobbs.