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Post by catmandewe on Jun 24, 2012 22:57:19 GMT -5
Bruneau is no longer being mined
The Bruneau mines were all signed away last Tuesday, the BLM kicked them out and it is a done deal.
Tony
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Post by Rockhobbit on Jun 24, 2012 22:59:55 GMT -5
Well that sucks! I was able to get my hands on about 50 lbs of very old stock last fall! I love the snowbirds that bring their old rock collections with them to Arizona!
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Post by helens on Jun 24, 2012 23:03:41 GMT -5
Sorry to hear that... so I guess the miners didn't get anywhere trying to talk to the BLM:(. That is so ridiculous.
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adrian65
Cave Dweller 
Arch to golden memories and to great friends.
Member since February 2007
Posts: 10,789
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Post by adrian65 on Jun 24, 2012 23:26:41 GMT -5
Is there only one place where it's found?
Adrian
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Post by catmandewe on Jun 24, 2012 23:32:18 GMT -5
Yes only one place where it is found and talking to the BLM didnt work at all.
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Post by roy on Jun 25, 2012 0:12:56 GMT -5
i know were to find some lol! buddy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Post by helens on Jun 25, 2012 0:26:36 GMT -5
LOL!!! That was too funny Roy:)!!! I'm a curious person... so I took a look at EXACTLY what holdings the BLM has. My thought was... well, if they won't LEASE the land for the mine, maybe you can BUY it, or land close enough to it that you can go dig the bruneau ANYWAY. This is the BLM's entire holdings in Owyhee county (carefully note the white specs... those are PRIVATE lands - that are buyable, or leaseable for mineral rights): www.owyheeinitiative.org/pdf/OImap3.25.08.pdfFound a link that said that the entire town of Gasmere was for sale with no buyers in 2005 (why would they have buyers now). And sometimes, the BLM sells their land (tho the bruneau area isn't for sale, already checked... but they are considering selling an area in Idaho with geothermal springs? No clue where that is). www.blm.gov/id/st/en/prog/lands_and_realty/Land_Records/obtaining_land.htmlAnd finally, what I haven't looked into... is that most states have an adverse possession law... or squatters law... Build a shack, semi-live in the shack for x years... and claim said shack as yours via adverse possession legally. In Florida, you also have to pay the property tax for the shack, so if Idaho has that law, that won't work. The BLM shouldn't get away with this!!! |
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Post by johnjsgems on Jun 25, 2012 8:26:19 GMT -5
Sounds like the BLM there has been Californicated.
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grayfingers
Cave Dweller
Member since November 2007
Posts: 4,575 
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Post by grayfingers on Jun 25, 2012 8:39:52 GMT -5
Wow, that sucks. The feds are really doing a job of locking down land. I found this .pdf which has their 'reasons' for kicking the public out of their lands. I have not read it all, looks like they are eying other areas as well. www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/id/plans/jarbidge_rmp/draft_rmp_eis.Par.45532.File.dat/File_3.50-Appendix_W.pdfFrom the .pdf: Cross-country motorized vehicle use presents a threat to the cultural and scenic values within the ACEC. This type of use also threatens bighorn sheep habitat by creating corridors for the spread of invasive plants, which degrades their habitat. Other surface-disturbing activities, such as mineral exploration and development (13) and right-of-way (ROW) development, are also a threat to cultural and scenic values and bighorn sheep; bighorn sheep typically avoid human disturbance. Any activities in the uplands or riparian zones that increase sediment to the stream can negatively affect bull trout and redband trout. 13 There are currently seven active mining claims within the ACEC boundary, all at Indian Hot Springs for Bruneau jasper. |
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Post by johnjsgems on Jun 25, 2012 9:19:55 GMT -5
Last time I drove through the Eisenhower tunnel there were many big horns grazing along the shoulder. Several places around Palm Springs, CA they had to put up very tall fences to keep the desert big horns out of the roads. Beforte the fences you had to drive very slowly through those areas in the early hours. I guess some of the big horns didn't get the memo.
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Post by roy on Jun 25, 2012 9:32:27 GMT -5
in oregon they hang out next to the hiway all the time!?
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unclestu2u
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Member since June 2012
Posts: 88
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Post by unclestu2u on Jun 25, 2012 10:43:51 GMT -5
Sounds as if they really like those sheep. Wouldn't it be nice if they could just round them all up and create a big horn sheep reservation. Then they can charge all of those Big Horn lovers admission fees to come visit. To fund the relocation they can charge a Big Horn relocation tax on the revenue generated by the Bruneau mines.
Just a thought
Stu
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hand2mouthmining
spending too much on rocks
Purveyors of California Gem Rock
Member since September 2011
Posts: 495
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Post by hand2mouthmining on Jun 25, 2012 23:21:07 GMT -5
Sounds as if they really like those sheep. Wouldn't it be nice if they could just round them all up and create a big horn sheep reservation. Then they can charge all of those Big Horn lovers admission fees to come visit. To fund the relocation they can charge a Big Horn relocation tax on the revenue generated by the Bruneau mines. Just a thought Stu That's a great idea, Stu ... But, it's too logical & practical! Besides, it wouldn't serve the purposes of the Big Boss, or the Sect. Of Interior, or the Senators of CA, or the EPA ... you know, the people who REALLY MATTER in America! As every rockhound in California knows well, "the Powers that be," i.e. the Governor, Legislature and Feds long ago decided that the Public has no business on Public Land! We're being herded into crowded cities, forced out of our cars into (sic) "High-Speed Rail" and cap & trade. Meanwhile, we're lectured about how America has no great cities ... By the VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES! His assertion? "China has great cities ... America doesn't!" But I digress ... We've been fighting the Interior Dept. here in Central California for the last decade and more. The Water Wars have been fodder for the Media in all its forms, and are nowhere near settled, despite assertions by the President of a "great dialog" having been established between Ag interests, Muni's and "Environmentalists." Dialog doesn't store one drop of water ... But, what does he care? He's having steak & arugala for dinner. So, what does this have to do with the Bruneau mines? Search "Clear Creek Management Area." One of the most geologiaclly unique areas on the planet, The EPA & BLM shut down over 30,000 acres of Public Lands in 2008, and have cited several different and specious excuses for doing so. Making the long story short, the entire process of reopening the Clear Creek BLM MA was hoped, by the local BLM managers and rangers as well as the Public, to be completed in the summer of 2011. Yeah ... Right ....Sure.  Instead, the house majority was turned to the Right, the Courts rejected the final Environmental Impact Report as bogus, and the Interior Sect has shelved the ongoing process until "after the election." So, what does it matter that there are brand new campgrounds being maintained out there, empty because powerful men haven't gotten what they wanted, and don't desire a "negative" precident to be established ... Negative to their power, that is ... But positive for rockhounds, and many other Americans! If you want to know who shut down Bruneau, just search for "environmental" and, when you look at the "Green" websites, look to see who's funding them ... and you'll know who's making a buck and consolidating their power! (Hint: Their "Association" has it's own Bar!) Just remember, when an "environmentalist" sues someone, the American taxpayer pays their bills! So, what to do? DON'T SHUT UP!!! Tell EVRYONE you meet something about your own, local example of "environmental" exclusion. Just look at your local news, you'll find one. Trust me. And rockhound wherever you can. Roadside collect, talk with local landowners, prospect and always be friendly. A smile today may turn a "NO!" today into a yes tomorrow. And for goodness sake, get informed. Connect with the American Lands Access Association, supported by the American Federation of Mineralogical Societies. Never give up. Kris |
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rykk
spending too much on rocks
Member since September 2011
Posts: 428
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Post by rykk on Jul 1, 2012 0:22:31 GMT -5
Sounds to me like this action will cost a number of folks a whole lot of money, possibly their livelihoods. I think all of the claim holders should band together and hire one of those libertarian Tea Party lawyers and sue the Idaho BLM. Maybe even set up a website where rockhounds can contribute to help with legal fees.
The more we just roll over and take this stuff, the more they will do it. In Europe, when the gov tries to pull a fast one they get 300,000 people raising a ruckus in the streets and their gov backs down.
Idaho isn't the only state doing this junk to small-scale miners. There are rockhounds and miners all over the US and not just on the west coast. Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas and Texas all have mines - mostly for amethyst, quartz, agate, and emeralds. What needs to happen is for leaders to come forward and organize rockhounds and miners nationally and fight this stuff HARD in the courts wherever our rights are threatened. The thing that ticks me off the most is the effect on the average rockhound like me. Shoot man, I'm not looking to go in anywhere with a track hoe. I just want to wander around in the wilds with a small shovel, a hammer, and a chisel.
Anyhow, it seems to me that a decent legal team could come up with a number of tort issues pertaining to the livelihoods of the Bruneau miners. Also, the bighorn sheep were reintroduced in Idaho in the 70's or 80's according to the pdf linked above. It might be the California sheep isn't even the natural denizen of the Indian Hot Springs area. Sounds like maybe they grabbed the closest thing to the sheep that died out in Idaho they could find (from California) to repopulate with. One could argue that the California sheep are an "invasive species" and the rules don't apply outside of their NATURAL habitat. They repopulated the Florida Panther using mountain lions from Texas and out west. Not genetically the same cat but close enough to fill the niche in the habitat and look pretty much the same, just a tad bigger.
The BLM should be required to show conclusively any damage actually done by the miners in the time period they were active to any of the species they mention. ie: "disruption in the riparian zones COULD (read, "might") have adverse effects on bull trout" (sic) It sounds like some of the BLM's assertions are merely hypothetical. If years of jasper mining haven't bothered them, why should it all of a sudden be a problem?
Of course this assumes ALL 7 miners have been conscientious in their operations and haven't done anything dumb like I heard happened in Oregon where some guy just hauled off and dozed an access without filing the paperwork and got everybody shut down in one of the areas. (just hearsay, btw - I surely don't know this first-hand) We must all police ourselves so as not to give BLM any excuses.
C-ya,
Rick
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herchenx
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2012
Posts: 3,360
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Post by herchenx on Sept 12, 2012 18:25:48 GMT -5
I know this thread has been closed for a while, but if 1) no vehicles can go and and 2) no mines are there does that mean a person could hike in on foot and get at the bruneau (assuming it was on or near the surface?)
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Post by catmandewe on Sept 12, 2012 23:44:26 GMT -5
Theoretically you could, but Bruneau jasper is in solid rock, you could maybe get one or two pieces a day out if you worked at it pretty hard with a hammer and chisel. The previous miners used drills and explosives to get the jasper out.
The main road in has not been closed yet, but it is probably the roughest road I have ever driven. (The last time I went in there I had to replace some front end parts that got bent and buy a new set of tires because they were beat up so bad they were unsafe for normal use.)
It does put you within hiking distance of the mines, don't park on the road because boaters still use the road to get to the river. If you park on the road some of the locals who shuttle boaters in will push your vehicle out of the way to get through because since they are driving beaters anyways they don't care what happens to their vehicle and it will really hurt yours to get pushed off the road. Also if you park off the road in an undesignated spot you can get a ticket from BLM for driving off road ($300). If you go work at the lower claim BLM can give you a ticket for "mining" too close to the river and possibly killing some fish.
So basically the cost of going in will most probably make whatever you get very expensive, most likely in the hundreds of dollars per pound range, IF you can get pounds chiseled out.
Good luck................Tony
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