President Donald J. Trump
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
April X, 2019
RE: STATES PROHIBITING GOLD MINING ON FEDERAL LANDS?
Dear President Trump;
I am writing you today to ask you to please direct or encourage those in your
administration to advise the U.S. Supreme Court to accept and hear Bohmker v. Oregon,
903 F.3d 1029 (9th Cir. 2018), pet. for cert. pending.
At the least, please direct the Solicitor General, Noel Francisco, to look into this travesty
of justice and to file an amicus curiae brief recommending that the United States Supreme
Court take this case. In fact, last year, the Solicitor General advised the U.S. Supreme
Court to not review a very similar case (Rinehart v. California) at least partially on the
grounds that this Bohmker case frames the legal arguments better.
The issue in question is paramount as it affects hundreds of thousands if not millions of
jobs, and destroys the rights of millions of individual citizen miners, prospectors and
claim owners . . . solely for political purposes under the guise of theoretical
environmental protection.
Oregon and California have banned the use of all motorized underwater mining
equipment; regardless of the effects or scale (spoon-fed battery-powered concentrators
are also banned, along with 12v bilge pumps like found in boats and lawn-mower engine
driven pumps). Without motorized equipment, many underwater gold deposits are
beyond reach – they might as well be on Mars. The states and the courts claim this is not
a ban on mining… as miners are still free to pan for gold by hand. The problem is that
most of the valuable remaining gold deposits within reach of small-scale miners remain
at the bottom of active waterways that are not within reach of a gold pan.
All I ask for is fair justice – to be heard. The 9th Circuit has made a huge mistake
overturning 146 years of Mining Law by granting states the authority to decide uses of
the federal lands, ignoring the authority of the United States. Only the U.S. Supreme
Court can overturn this bad decision.
I thank you for your attention to this very important issue and pray we can all help make
America Great Again – and Forever. That can only happen if we are a Nation of Laws…
and not twisted personal agendas.
Sincerely;
Original signature
Name and address
Copies of this letter are being sent to the following officials, also asking for their
assistance however they are able help us put this very important matter in front of the
U.S. Supreme Court:
U.S. Supreme Court
1 First St NE
Washington, DC 20543
Noel J. Francisco
Solicitor General
Office of the Solicitor General
950 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, D.C. 20006
Jeffrey Bossert Clark
Assistant Attorney General, ENRD
U.S. Department of Justice
Environment and Natural
Resources Division, Room 2121
601 D. Street
Washington, D.C. 20578
James E. Hubbard, Undersecretary
Natural Resources & Environment
U.S. Department of Agriculture
1400 Independent Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20250
Vicki Christiansen
Chief, United States Forest Service
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Washington, D.C. 20250-1111
Joe Balash
Assistant Secretary, Land and Minerals Management
U.S. Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20240