The Bureau of Land Management field office in Redding, California ("BLM") has announced a proposed project and its intent to withdraw land from mineral entry ("Withdrawal") in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest in Trinity County, California. BLM is providing interested parties a 30 day period during which they may comment on the proposed project. GPAA urges and encourages all members and concerned citizens to comment before the deadline on or about December 24, 2014, as the proposed project will result in the loss of both mining rights in the area as well as the closing of one or more GPAA claims.
The proposed project consists in part of channel rehabilitation activities along the mainstream of the Trinity River, downstream from the Lewiston Dam at the Dutch Creek Rehabilitation Site. The announced purposes of the proposed project are; (i) to restore the anadromous fishery of the Trinity River by creating a complex salmon and steelhead habitat, (ii) to enhance natural river processes for the benefit of the aquatic and terrestrial wildlife and (iii) to provide conditions suitable for reestablishing native riparian vegetation.
The GPAA claim most impacted by this proposed project is ROCK 1, a claim map and description of which was published in the current Mining Guide (CL-93). Other GPAA claims in the area that may be impacted by this proposed project are; EVEN STEVEN, MOONLIGHT (CL-92), and TRINITY 1 (CL-94). The EVEN STEVEN claim is a recently acquired GPAA 80 acre claim that has been scheduled to be published in an upcoming edition of Pick & Shovel Gazette.
As a Cooperating Agency under the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"), the Shasta-Trinity National Forest has worked with the BLM to conduct a NEPA analysis and has written the mandated Environmental Assessment ("EA") for the proposed project. The BLM has posted the EA on its website at: blm.gov/ca/st/en/fo/redding/earoster.html. Copies are available by mail and may be requested by contacting the BLM at (530) 224-2100. The Supervisory Realty Specialist for the proposed project is Charlie Wright. His direct telephone number is (530) 224-2120.
Your comments regarding the proposed project can be emailed to Charlie Wright at cwright@blm.gov or mailed to him at United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management, Redding Field Office, 355 Hemsted Drive, Redding, CA 96002.
Before including your address, telephone number, email address or other personal identifying information in your comment, please note that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you may request that BLM and other agencies withhold your personally identifying information from public view, the BLM and other agencies cannot guarantee they will be able to do so.
The GPAA and its experts believe the proposed project can proceed without the need to adversely impact the access of members to the existing valid mining claims in the area. Please submit your comments and consider sending a copy of your comments to your congressional representatives. If you wish to receive additional information, you may submit a Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA") request to the BLM and other agencies. As a private citizen you are entitled to receive the information you request at no cost. Sample wording of a FOIA request is available at: goldprospectors.org/FOIA.pdf.
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