Archive for the 'President’s Message' Category

We had the best Thanksgiving outing ever. There was well over 50 members including those from the Imperial Valley Prospector group. We all got to prospect, metal detect and explore on the five 160 acre claims. Off and on throughout out the week, we conducted tours to all of the claims. We had many positive comments on the outing and on our meetings.

Thanks to Earl and his volunteers, they were able to post the paper documents and plant most of the corner markers. Thanks to many of our members familiar with the area, we were able to lead groups to the claims. Thanks to many of our members, we were able to share prospecting equipment and help others set up their own items. Thanks to many of our members who helped prepare and set up our wonderful potluck dinner.

The weather was perfect, day and night. When we were not kicking back and sharing stories, we were out individually trying our luck in finding those gold locations, hiking, metal detecting, walking our dogs, or exploring old mine locations. This is a new training location for us, and we can come here for many years. All in all, I believe it was the best outing we have had for years.

Like I have previously said, we are planning our next years outings and if you know of some place we should include, please let us know. These are educational events and we want to cover as much as we can. While we do a lot of prospecting and mineral identification, we want to cover a lot in metal
detecting.

Went to a last minute BLM Resource Management meeting. Anytime a government entity says that they are going to enhance my quality of life on my public lands, I get nervous and want to hear what they are up to. In short, the BLM is working on “management plans” to change how they will manage plots of BLM lands from Palmdale, down to the Mexican border. The claims they are sticking with is that they have been working on this for some time and as of August, they have been looking for input from concerned citizens. We have a 90 day input time and it is up on December 21. Wow!, where have we been and why do we seem to have just found out about this?

These management plans cover four different “Alternatives” (A, B, C, D). some good for some citizens and bad for others. Open up some areas while closing or restricting other areas. A “for instance” is while keep open some mining areas, it will restrict some access to these areas. While opening grazing, you will not have roads or paths. I may have made some distortion to the “Alternatives”, but wanted you to get the picture. It appears it is a lose-lose situation.

Where we may get to save some options, we will lose on others. When we asked when the final decision will be made, we were given the statement that they hope to be done in a year……

We will complete this year with our annual Christmas party. This will be at the Madrid Manor Mobil Home Park. December 10, from 2:00 on. Don’t forget the gift if you want to participate in the exchange. Gift price from $15 to $20.

Have a very merry Christmas you all and I hope Santa brings you the prospecting supplies, metal detecting machines and mineral identification items you have put on your wish list.

Sourdough Chet

It’s going to be over before you know it. This year is drawing to a close. Our last scheduled outing is this month, November 18 – 20 at the new Cargo Claims. We are planning on posting some of the corner markers, touring the various claims and a pot luck dinner on Saturday the 19th. The TSS will supply the ham and others who come are asked to supply a side dish. Bring your claims guide to the event so you can mark those special areas because there are a lot of them.

For December, we will have the Christmas dinner on the 11th. You can come fairly early to help set up, but not to bother the cooks. Side dishes again and we will have our gift exchange. We will also have our regular general meeting on December 7.

We are working on our next year’s schedule of outings, so we need your suggestions.

There is a storm brewing between the U.S. Forest Service rangers and prospectors in the San Gabriel Mountains. It appears that there is a ranger and the PLP Public Relations Director are exchanging meetings and messages on prospecting rights. The fight has escalated from the local ranger’s supervisor, on up to the Forest Service’s office in Washington, D. C. As Mr. Goldberg has stated in his PLP Alert, “it has gone to a bunch of buck passing bureaucrats with misleading statements who bend and twist rules and laws to mislead the American public.” Anyone personally know Mr. Goldberg? Let’s get him as a speaker.

Like the PLP mission statement reads “to represent and assist outdoor user groups and individuals interested in keeping public and private lands open to prospecting, mining and outdoor recreation through public education, scientific data, and legal means.”

Let’s enjoy the upcoming holidays with our organization and families.

Sourdough Chet

Haven’t heard any bad news about any environmental group trying to fence us off or shut us out of any public lands lately. Have you heard any bad news? We had some great times metal detecting at the beaches and we also found gold up at the San Gabriel River. Some of our members reported a few rings found. There were stories this past month of a cache of old coins. Some large nuggets at the East Fork too. It’s still out there, you just have to do your research. Just because summer is almost over doesn’t mean that the beaches will end giving up coins and rings. Just ask Frank, John and Big C. The rings and coins are still out there.

Our trip to the Cargo Claims is up for October. There is supposed to be a dip in the weather just before and during our outing. That will be great. It will be in the mid 90′s…. We are going to have a work party setting up some corner posts during the outing. Those who help will be compensated. Lee will be our Wagonmaster and he will give us a tour of all the claims.

We had a discussion at our board meeting about wanting to have an event where we all could bring our favorite prospecting and metal detecting toys and do demonstrations on how to use them. Maybe even have a sale of the items we want to part with. This is where your suggestions come in. The event would help the newer members or even the older members find out what is out there and how we use it. Help us out to find a place to hold these events.

That’s it for now. Any other discussion or information will be at the general meeting. Study hard, hunt long and search deep.

Sourdough Chet

I finally got the chance to prospect up north off of the Yuba River.  I was up there for two weeks.  Beautiful, green and lots of fresh air.    We were up where miners in the old days tore away huge cliffs by hydraulic mining.  Their mining techniques were somewhat primitive, so a lot of gold slipped through and prospectors in the modern age are still getting rich on their leftovers.  We didn’t get rich, but we did find gold and had a lot of fun.  We highbanked, sluiced, metal detected and just gold panned.  Found a couple of gold with quartz specimens.

We have lost our rights to dredge for another five years.  There was a lot of hard work put into getting our dredging right back, but the environmentalist, along with Governor Brown, and our previous governor, got their way.  Some say, we could have done more, but many didn’t think that this would go as far as it did.  I have to quote portions of an open letter to miners from the Western Mining Alliance.

“We lost round one because we didn’t see it coming.  If Birkenstock wearing, cafe latte sipping environmentalists who’ve never humped a dredge into a canyon can beat us then we deserve to be beaten.  When smug lawyers with bad haircuts can stand in front of a room and tell a group of miners that ‘we offered to settle’ and think we’re willing to trade full rights for something they’re willing to concede to us – then they deserve to be beaten.”  “Rights, once taken by the government are not given back – they are taken back by the people.”

I’m sure we haven’t heard the last of this fight, but it has begun to be a more uphill battle.  We have to keep a watchful eye out because the same type of environmentalists are working on taking away our rights to be in the deserts too.

The government hasn’t taken our rights away to sluice up on the East Fork of the San Gabriel River and that is where our next outing is scheduled.  The only problem with this outing is that is is on the  weekend.  That is when everyone else will be there.  Families playing in the water and the prospectors.  Jim and Sue Jeffrey schedule outings there on some Wednesdays, and this can be a better time if it fits your days off.  When you find your way to the Oaks Picnic Grounds, look across the road on the river side.  There is a bathroom building with ample off road parking.  Find yourself a spot.  Pack lightly and find the path down to the river while heading towards the bridge upstream.  Cross the river and the washed out banks on the other  side are your best bet.

Won’t be long until we get packed up to go out to our new claims in the Cargo Mountains.  I believe we are scheduled to go in October, weather permitting.  We are going to put up our corner markers, do some other maintenance and look for gold and other minerals.  This should be a good place to do some metal detecting.  One thing to keep in mind is that it can unexpectedly become very windy.  I hear that there may be a tour of all the new claims.

A lot of our members are interested in metal detecting and coin shooting.  I have now been out at the beaches and am beginning to like this.  Early to me is on the beach at seven am and off around ten or eleven.  Works for me.  Also, metal detecting in the parks has turned into fun.  All this during the week is much better without the crowds.  I have been doing much better with each outing.  It’s great that some of our new officers are more interested in this part of our program.

Well, that’s all for now.  May your pans and drywashers become golden, may your scoops be filled with rings and coins and may your metal detector find enough relics to make you happy.

Sourdough Chet

We were busy this past month.  We put on a California Gold Rush Days at Pioneer Elementary School.  We had six classes of 24 students each.  And, we did a great job again.  Thank you Donna, Sue, Ray, Jim, Robert, Loren, Keith and Jerry.

We had three days at the Del Mar Fair volunteering at the Gem and Mineral Booth.  That’s always fun helping the kids hunt in the sand for polished gemstones.  The real fun starts when the younger kids drop their binky in the sand and you quickly cover it with the sand………….

I heard we had a good turnout at the outing in Ranchita.  That’s a rough place to get into, but there are so many places to explore, including the Montezuma mine.  Big C always likes to be the wagonmaster on this outing because he has been traveling this area since his younger years.

There is good news for California Dredging.  For those who don’t follow politics, some California lawmakers had inserted a “rider” into the budget bill.  This “rider would put a 5 year moratorium on any dredging in CA.  Well, many letters and FAX’s were sent wanting Gov. Brown to veto the bill and resume the environmental impact report (EIR) being done on the effects of dredging.  Well, the Gov. vetoed the bill.  According to the story in the Sacramento Bee, Brown said “ Fish and Game can now finish working on the EIR and associated regulations, though the resumption of dredging is not assured.  There is a Congressman Tom McClintock (R-CA) that wrote a newspaper piece that stated that he was mad as hell that California lawmakers were trying to kill a solvent industry.

Well, we have the picnic coming up this month.  We are supposed to have a much-better metal detecting hunt this year.  Thank you Jerry for stepping up to help us out.  All I will say is that the prizes should be better.  We will also have our gold panning contest.  We’ll work on those prizes too.

East Fork of the San Gabriel should be just about right.  Jim and Sue did an event up there the past week.  I believe they are going to do some more outings up there.

That’s it for now.  Stay busy, be safe and have fun.

Sourdough Chet

Our outdoor weather is here. It’s time to break out your snake guards, shovels, metal detectors, sluices, dry washers and guide books for gems and minerals. Beaches, parks, rivers, deserts and gem deposits, get ready.

Some of us were out to the Two-Quartz claim in May.  There is always gold to find there.  I’ve heard that the beaches are starting to produce great coin and jewelry finds.

Some of us went to Temecula to do a California Gold Rush presentation at one of the elementary schools.  We also had a presentation at Oak Hill Elementary School in Escondido, which went very good. Six classes of 28 students.

Next Wednesday, we have the Pioneer School and the following Friday, we start our volunteering at the Del Mar Fair Gem and Mineral Booth.

Our outing for June is scheduled to be at the Montezuma Mine.  I don’t think this is a claim to keep unless you have 4 wheel drive. The first part of the dirt road is very rough to get through.  Then you have to battle the big block of concrete up by the mine tailing piles. We did find an old dump site possibly by some old cabin nearby.  This might be a claim for us to give up at next filing date.

We picked up five new claims out in the Cargo Mountains, this side of Yuma, Arizona.  The only problem is that right now is when it starts to get very hot out there.  These claims are right in the middle of the Cargos and that is the best gold producing area.  We already placed the center markers out there and some of those who did that already found some good gold.  The claim maps should be ready soon.

We have some new officers sworn in.

• Jerry Goldstein is our new Treasurer
• Dwight Reed is our new Vice President.

Thank you guys for stepping up to help us grow even bigger.  I’m hoping Dwight will bring us some new information and places to metal detect.  Jerry is already doing a great job as part of the Claims Committee.  He was one of those who helped stake out our new Cargo claims.

Speaking of those new claims, I want to personally thank Earl Sterrett for all the help on the claims and also helping, actually doing most of the work, in getting all our tax exempt papers done and all the necessary yearly filing of tax papers for the State and Federal Governments.

The Center for Biological Diversity is trying to convince the California lawmakers that there should be a 5 year moratorium on dredging.  The same Center helped to close parts of Coolguardie for mining.

So many things going on and so hard to remember them all.  Stay tuned and close to the meetings and newsletter for the latest information.  When we get the news, we will pass it on to our members.

Sourdough Chet

Well, our outdoor weather finally is here but shortly it will be too hot to get out in the desert. The mountains and streams will be perfect. We had an outing at the Hall of Fame claim. I believe the weather was perfect there. Randy said that we had a good turnout and the gold is still coming in good quantities.

We had a GPAA gold show on the same weekend. It was so-so. Not as good as last year. We also had a bad booth location. Talking to the other chapters, they did poorly too. I heard that attendance was way down too. Only a handful of kids were there to do any gold panning. Mostly kids like to do that, but Las Vegas casinos do not cater to kids unless it is Circus Circus. We did have enough booth help. Thank you Jerry, Robert, Earl, Cathy, Ray, Earl, Karen Rosalie and Mike. I did find some good items for the table and a new grand prize. Ray went to the Chapter Rendezvous but I haven’t heard much on what went on at that event.

This month, we are going to the Two Quartz claim in Barstow. It may get warm, but it is an easy drive. You can even drive your motor home right up to your diggins’. And, it’s not far away. If some of our knowledgeable members go, I know they will help all those new members find some gold.

The weather is looking perfect to go to the San Gabriel River. The gold has to be good after all the floods up there. Be careful walking in the fast moving water. You don’t want to be like that person Jerry found floating under that backpack.

Our claims committee is also working on some new claims out in the Cargo Muchacho Mountains. It’s already too hot to work claims there, but we may set some center posts soon and work the claims in the fall. We may ask for some volunteers to set the posts soon.

Remember when you are out on any claim to take any trash home with you and leave the area looking just as it did before you were there. Don’t give the environmentalist and the BLM any reason to remove us from our public lands. Also, bring plenty of water to drink. We want you alive and well to come to our next meetings.

Sourdough Chet

Another wet month and some events were canceled, again. I believe some members went to the Hall of Fame claim for a few days. I was able to get out and do some metal detecting in local parks and walkways. I also went out to Borrego Springs and picked up some 12 to 14 million year old clam shells.

The Palomar Gem and Mineral rock show was a fun experience. I purchased a small meteorite to use as a tuning guide for my metal detector.

The Butterfield Stage Stop metal detecting hunt was as good as the first time. The San Diego Coinshooters were there and really did a good job finding some more old items. Jim and Sue did a great job as usual putting up items for the raffle.

Take a look at the glass enclosure just at the entrance to this auditorium. The staff at the Senior Center asked me to put up a display of our organization. They especially wanted it to focus around the centerfold picture of me out in the desert. I told them that there is more to this organization and I would work on it. This is what I came up with.

There was an interesting article published in the Pick & Shovel Gazette put out by the GPAA. Article was written by Washington State GPAA Director Rob Mathews. I’m going to take some of his statements and blend them with mine because his thoughts are mine as well.

“The biggest challenge we face are more restrictive state and federal legislation, rule making and court decisions further limiting the legal activities of the small scale prospector.”

It’s becoming a never ending battle to preserve the rights of people to travel on public lands even to camp, hike, hunt, prospect, metal detect and just to recreate. Concerning our mining and prospecting rights, we continue battling with local and state authorities, many, which do not even know what our present rights are. If we don’t put a stop to it here in California, it will get worse and spread to other states.

“If authorities and environmentalists had their way, a 10-foot high fence would be placed around all public lands, barring any and all human involvement, because of their misunderstanding as to how we conduct our activities.”

We must continue our battle to keep our existing and diminishing rights. Also, we must keep our public lands looking just as pristine as they were when we first entered.

President’s Political Views

Meetings are being held, most in northern California, on the resumption of suction dredging. The meetings are on what is called the “Draft SEIR”, Draft Suction Dredge Environmental Impact Report. These meetings are held by DFG. They are listening to the pros and cons of resuming suction dredging.

Some of our other chapters have gone to these meetings and I get information as to how the meeting went. As these messages are received by me, I am going to forward as much of their contents as I can.

Douglas(Pucky) Junghans, Founder and 2 year President, of The East Bay Prospectors and Northern California’s GPAA State Director went to a recent meeting. Here is his report:

I went to the meeting last night. The meeting went well. There was an overflow to the next room; 292 miners. Time will tell if our presence helped. The comments made a real impact. Letters and e-mails are being accepted until 5/10/2011 on this matter.

E-mail Mark Stopher at dfgsuctiondredge@dfg.ca.gov
Post mail to Mark Stopher, CA Dept. Fish & Game, 601 Locust Street, Redding, CA, 96001
Give your name, mailing address and comments/issues. If you have any questions call (530)225-2391

Sourdough Chet

Every month, I come out and say how much we have gotten better than the last month. Every month, it’s the truth and I don’t know when its going to slow down. We just keep doing better and better.

Frank Trutta has made this organization so much fun with the monthly beach metal detecting and more members are signing up for his outings.

We did a gold panning demo at the Escondido Children’s Museum and all the junior panners got one of our new gold prospectors coloring books. Bill and Charlene Myers were the wagon masters at the Thanksgiving outing at the Friendly Fox with almost twenty members. Harriett and I couldn’t go because we were on the “baby watch” so we could become great grandparents. Plus, a writer, Gary Warth, from the North County Times went along to the Thanksgiving outing and wrote a two page article in this last Sunday’s paper. Can you get any better than that?

Well, I guess it did. We held a TSS Workshop at our house and seventeen members showed up to help put things together for our organization. Counting Harriett and I, there were nineteen people who built dowsing rods, measured gold and packed bags of panning sand with this gold for the TSS to sell at the gold shows and other events. The gold didn’t seem to last as long as I thought, so probably many bags have more than the “usual amount.” Plenty of gold for the price of the bag.

We had two people donate gold prospecting items to the TSS. I mentioned this at our last meeting. We now have a four inch dredge, a highbanker, a Keene 151 drywasher, another smaller drywasher, a vac pack and other miscellaneous items. Now we need a member to hang onto all this stuff to loan to our group.

When you read this, we will be having our December general meeting and everyone will be going home with a gift off of the table. Our Christmas party will be the following Saturday and this will be our third for the TSS group. Then we get ready for another new year of non-stop fun. It’s continuous folks. If you’re not having fun or you want to do something else on the outings, don’t forget to let us know.

Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year.

~Sourdough Chet~