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Week-long Mining Projects After giving this considerable thought, we have decided to cancel all of the week-long Group Mining Projects that were previously scheduled for the 2008 season. Here is a list of previously-scheduled events. Please believe me when I say that nobody is more disappointed about this than I am. In addition to all the fun members have experienced in this program, week-long Projects have gone a very long way towards helping our members better-understand how to successfully follow a sampling plan, while also gaining some certainty that high-grade gold deposits are abundant along our mining properties. The reason we are cancelling the week-long Projects this season is because of the ever-rising value of gold. The way things are going, we might see $1,100 gold (or even higher) before the season gets started! These higher gold prices are nearly certain to bring more new members into The New 49'ers and onto our mining properties. I am concerned mainly about careful management of any expanded activity. Our careful management has been the foundation of our success as a mining organization. More activity by members along the river will certainly require more oversight by myself and other staff. This is to make sure our organization does not develop problems with the authorities. The problem with the week-long Group Mining Projects is that they require nearly all of my time away from my normal duties as General Manager of The New 49'ers for at least 8 continuous days on each Project. Added to the weekend Projects (which we will continue to do), I lose over 50% of my days as General Manager during the mining season. While we have managed to get away with this during the past several years, I am very concerned that an influx of new members along the properties this season could change the dynamics in such a way that our organization cannot do without a fulltime General Manager. Because of the potential risks involved, I am not comfortable in turning management responsibility for the organized mining Projects over to anyone else. I also do not want to give up my position as General Manager of The New 49'ers. Since my first priority must be to the overall health of The New 49'ers, I have asked Montine and Myrna in our office to make contact with the people who have signed up for this year's week-long Projects and let them know we will not be doing them. If you need to talk with anyone about this, Montine and Myrna can be contacted directly at (530) 493-2012 or by email. Unfortunately, higher gold prices cut two ways. On the one hand, they make our whole program more valuable to others. On the other hand, they will require our management team to be focused more upon the bigger program to keep everything working the way it should. Once again, we will continue to do the scheduled 2-day Projects as follows: June 7 & 8; June 28 & 29; July 19 & 20; August 9 & 10; August 30 & 31. Demographics SurveyOur lobbyists have requested that we provide them with basic demographic data about the gold prospecting community. This is so we can place a face upon the average, modern-day gold prospector during our lobbying and legal-defense efforts on behalf of the industry. Right now, legislators and the courts do not know who we are. "Prospector" musters up the image of an old, bearded fella leading a burro around in the hills. It's time to bring that general perception up to date! We are including a link to a survey with this month's newsletter, and we ask that you please print it out, fill it out, and send it back to The New 49'ers, P.O. Box 47, Happy Camp, CA 96039. Please click here for the survey. Please note that the survey does not ask for your name or address. This is so we can collect needed information about the industry in general without infringing upon your personal privacy in any way. We are trying to survey as many prospectors as possible, so please pass the word around? You do not need to be an active member of The New 49'ers to participate. Legal Issues are Heating up Again!Legal action is starting to heat up in California again. The Karuk Tribe has become very unhappy because the Department of Fish & Game (DFG) has told the Court that it does not have the necessary funding to update its Environmental Review of our existing suction dredging regulations until at least 2009. This would be a violation of the Court's Order. Consequently, the Karuks have put the Court on notice of their intention to file a motion with the Court to hold DFG in contempt. They also have informed the Court that they are studying other alternatives, which may include renewed efforts to shut down suction dredgers with an injunction. Since DFG is not going to review suction dredging regulations in the immediate future, and the Karuks are not going to relax their concerns, we anticipate that this is going to evolve into some sort of contested hearing at some level where evidence will be weighed on the question of whether or not existing suction dredge regulations in California are providing adequate protections for coho salmon and/or other species of special concern. While we are confident that best available science and information will support our existing suction dredge regulations, it is going to be vitally important for us to have a very qualified fisheries specialist present our arguments as an expert witness. We have already instructed our attorneys to hire an expert to begin the work of compiling a Biological Opinion which supports a sound, scientific point of view with a reasonable perspective. I hope you guys will support us on this, because there is going to be a considerable cost involved with having a highly qualified expert help us present a full biological argument in support of the existing suction dredge regulations. We had anticipated the need to do this as part of the Environmental Review process. But now we are on more of a fast-track, since it is more likely that the "Review" of our dredge regulations will happen in a court setting. Our legal bills are presently fully paid to date, but our legal fund only contains $306 at the moment. That is not enough to launch ourselves into this next program. So, we are asking everyone to please participate in our legal fundraising effort, as follows:  Long-time member and supporter, Roger Larson, has donated 46 pennyweights (over 2 1/4 ounces) of beautiful gold to our legal fund. There are more than 90 nice-sized nuggets in the batch. This was a fantastic contribution, and I personally want to thank Roger very much on behalf of our whole industry! To help raise money for our legal fund, Roger suggested that we distribute the gold into numerous bags of gold panning ore which can be used as prizes in a drawing. With that in mind, Roger sent more then 90 gold nuggets, so that we can disburse them to make some bags more interesting than others (nice treat to pan out a surprise gold nugget!) Some of the nuggets are real nice pickers! With Roger's suggestion in mind, we will create 46 bags of gold panning ore, each to contain a pennyweight or more of gold, including at least one gold nugget. The remaining nuggets will be disbursed throughout the bags. This will place the gold-weight value of each bag at around $50 or more at today's gold price. Since some of the nuggets are bigger and more valuable than others, some of the bags will be worth more than others. Surprise, surprise! While we are not selling raffle tickets, we have been authorized by Roger to submit a drawing ticket for each $10 in contributions that we receive from those of you who support our legal fund ($100 would create 10 tickets, etc.). Our girls in the office will print your tickets as we receive contributions. The prize drawing will take place during our weekly potluck at the Happy Camp Lions Hall on the evening of 7 June. Contributions can be directed to New 49'er Legal Fund, P.O. Box 47, Happy Camp, CA 96039. You can also call in a debit or credit card contribution to our office at (530) 493-2012. Or you can make a contribution through Pay Pal.
Thanks for whatever you can do to help! Help NeededWe could use some help on several projects around the office if anyone has some extra time to help out, or would like to trade-out some labor in exchange for membership credit. These are relatively easy projects which would require general handyman skills. The sooner, the better on this, since we are going to have a busy season. If you are interested in helping, please contact Montine in the office at (530) 493-2062 or by email. More New Mining Claims for SaleJason Inks is selling some new short and long-length, beautiful mining claims within our general area, including several just over the hill in Southern Oregon, and some really nice ones downstream on the Klamath River. These claims have nothing to do with our Club program, but Craig Colt has been around to look at all of them and says they are quite exceptional mining claims. For those of you who would like to own your own mining claim, I suggest you do not wait too much longer. This is because if the Democrats capture the White House in November, "mining law reform" will be a near certainty. The mining law reform bills which have been being pushed in the legislature would eliminate property rights on all new mining claims after the legislation is passed. The Supreme Court has already ruled that mining claims which have been located under existing law are property in every sense of the word. Once mining law reform comes to pass, prior existing mining claims like the ones Jason is selling are going to become very valuable, indeed! There is a lot to say about owning your own gold mine! Existing law allows you to set up camp on your mining claim and mine for gold without having to give notice to anyone, as long as your activity does not create what you consider to be a significant disturbance of the surface resources. If you are interested in what Jason has to offer, you can find his web site at here. Electronic NewslettersThe electronic version of this newsletter is the best way to go if you are connected to the Internet. This is because we are able to do the electronic newsletter in full color and moving video when we cover the ongoing adventures that are being experienced by our members. To gain access to our monthly electronic newsletters, just fill out the "New 49'er Newsletter" form that is present on every page of our web site. Spring Shows
We intend to set up a booth at the following 2 tradeshow events this
spring. All members are invited to spend some time helping us operate
our booth at the following gold shows: Even if you cannot help with our
booth, please stop by and say hello! Salem, Oregon on March 29 & 30; Equipment & SuppliesWith gold prices shooting up as they are, we suggest you make your purchases while supplies last! Word is that some of the main industry manufacturers are already 2 months behind on delivery! While Montine is in the process of fully stocking the Pro-Mack store here in Happy Camp, I encourage you to please contact her in advance to make sure your needs will be met when you arrive. She will arrange to set your advanced orders away for you. Montine can be reached at (530) 493-2012 or by email. There is also a Pro-Mack web site.
Here is also a reminder that our web master is running
Special Offers on some of the
best gold recovery products presently available within our
industry.
General Information About the Club ::
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