California Gold Mining Hobbyists Get Out Your Shovels and Pans, Says New Law

Photo Source: The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft Volume 23, History of California; Volume 6: 1848-1859. Published 1888. Information courtesy of SusquehannaTurnpike.org.

Anyone believe in time travel? Well for the next two year, recreational river gold miners in California are going to feel like they have gone back to the early 1850s.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has just signed a bill making them temporarily have to say goodbye to their dredging equipment and hello to shovels and pans.

The new law, formerly Senate bill 670, goes into effect immediately. It initiates a “a temporary ban on motorized suction dredge mining in California until the California Department of Fish and Game finishes its court ordered overhaul of regulations governing this practice,” said Sen. Pat Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa, Calif.), who sponsored the bill.

The moratorium will not affect instream suction dredging operations performed for regular maintenance of energy or water supply management infrastructure, flood control, or navigational purposes.

A suction dredge is basically a device which is designed to suck gravel from the bottom of a river, pull it up through a hose and run it over a sluice box. In the sluice box, any gold which is present becomes trapped and the lighter materials such as sand and gravel move down and out of the sluice box and back into the river. Information and photo courtesy of nevada-outback-gems.com.

The DFG was ordered by the courts to overhaul regulations governing suction dredge mining on rivers, streams, and lakes, as a result of a 2005 lawsuit by the Karuk Tribe (Leeon Hillman et al v. California Dept. of Fish and Game, Super. Ct. Alameda County).

In 2005, the tribe sued the department over “the adequacy of the regulations in protecting fish and wildlife,” said Diane Colborn, director for the California Assembly Water, Parks, and Wildlife Committee.

Dr. Peter Moyle of the University of California in the 2005 lawsuit declared that “suction dredging represents a chronic disturbance of natural habitats and therefore has a negative impact on resident fish.”

In addition, “a 2003 pilot study conducted by the State Water Resource Control Board found that motorized dredging exacerbated rather than alleviated mercury contamination in rivers and streams. Mercury concentration in the sediment released by the dredges was more than ten times higher than that needed to classify it as a hazardous waste,” said Ms. Colborn.

As part of the lawsuit settlement agreement in 2006, the court ordered the DFG to complete an environmental review and regulatory update by July 2008. The DFG didn’t comply with the order stating that it lacked funding to conduct the review, which was unavailable until this year.

“The court-ordered environmental review is currently underway and the DFG expects to complete the effort, including any updates to the existing regulations by late summer 2011,” said Kristen Macintyre, DFG communications manager.

The moratorium on instream suction dredge mining established by the new law will remain in effect until the DFG completes the review and the updates take effect. A violation of the moratorium is a misdemeanor, punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and six months in jail.

In addition, effective immediately, the DFG will stop providing new suction dredging permits for mining purposes, and even if an operator (individual or company) was already issued a permit, it’s now void.

Further, the department says that it will not be providing any refunds for suction dredging permits issued this year, citing that it is “prohibited” from doing this.

For anyone wanting to formally express themselves on these issues, there are public meetings being planned for November 2009 in Fresno, Sacramento, and Redding.

Reader commentary and input is always welcomed!