Larimer County considers limiting prospecting!, county commissioner with screwed up priorities Options

[Scratch60]

This story appeared on 9 news.
http://www.9news.com/news/article/300505/1...-on-county-land
Can you say "slippery slope"?

[traddoerr]

Well said Chris!

To many people are treating recreational use like small scall mining, the Platte river/Clear Creek areas in the Denver area have been abused as well, and these County's are looking at management issues as well, most County owned land is withdrawn from mineral claim or it falls under the mumbo jumbo laws of no large scall mineral extraction, due to the proximity of City limits or other public use, the areas in the Pouder river/Big Thompson have NF/BLM/Open space/private, making it hard to manage police.

As for Cach Creek, the land was givin to BLM, which means there is NO mineral claiming (withdrawn) and doesn't fall under normal land mangement practices, it doesn't fall under the 1872 mining law, but is open to public use/managed as a prospecting recreational area, the closer of motorized use was due to abuse, and safety issues as some are digging holes 10'-15' deep in unstable ground

[swizz]

Well said Chris!

To many people are treating recreational use like small scale mining...

Thanks!
You are correct. Many people think that recreational-use prospecting is actually small scale MINING... when it is not.
I hope they didn't show up at that meeting today with a 'pitch fork and torches' storm-the-town-hall meeting attitude. No leg to stand on and downright embarrassing if they think they are fighting for some kind of "rights". Recreational rights? They don't exist.
Curious to see how it turns out, but doesn't really concern me. Hopefully a deal is struck with the mineral rights owner and some type of prospecting will still be allowed for the recreational users there.
If not, they can easily go somewhere else and play. Colorado is a huge playground with an abundance of PUBLIC lands (NFS and BLM managed where mining/prospecting is enjoyed as a right) and plenty more rec areas that allow varying degrees of limited prospecting (if that's their thang).

Cheers!