state regs for dredgeing/prospecting Options

[russau]

dave that is a great idea you have and posted over on leonards site. im going to forward this info to several clubs in different states around here to see if they could do a club project in secureing this info and get it put out for all to see/use. here in missouri we have no claimable ground. its all private or state owned. we have to go through the corps of eng. and the epa to be able do legally do anything in the water. many people here dissregard this and figure that they will just stop working and leave if caught, saying i didnt know you couldnt do that!!!! but it is a federal crime if you get caught, punishable by jail and large fines!! and when you do apply for these permits, the seiarra club gets notified if it goes to a public 21 day notice. these greenies are editos in the papers here and they automaticallly get these notices whenever a notice gets posted! boy was i in for a suprise when i tried to try to get a permit to try out my dredge before i went to georgia at the def rally!

[Quilomene John]

Russau, That is a good point. Is the process the same if dredging private property? If not, a lease arrangement with the land owner would be far easier and would have the added benefit of introducing other people to small scale placer mining firsthand without a green spin on it!
The Corps of Engineers has deemed small dredges a de minimus activity, I'm not sure about the EPA stance on dredges. QJ :(

[russau]

hey Q, the coe and the epa are working together on this one! it is under the clean water act!here in missouri,you need the landowners permission first then apply for a epa section 404 of the clean water act. the coe covers all water bodies and shores in the u.s.a. and all the way to the highwater line and all wetlands! failure to get a section 404 permit before dredgeing will cause you to be in violation of a federal law! punishable with up to fines and jail!! ive had one about 8 years ago for gunnison colorado it was a 5 year permit. it was free! i got it over the computer and telephoning to the hq in colorado. i was required to have a nationwide permit and a local permit to highbank in the creek. anytime you remove material from a creek and return that material back into the creek. you will need the permit. you need to have this permit updated for every location you got to. the coe gives you a 1/4(?????) mile of that creek river. for year. this can be done with something as simple as a "letter of permission" or it could go to a 21 day public notice. here is where the greenies get their info!!! and it could go to a public hearing if someone complains about it! now the fun begins... youll need to go to a public hearing, at which time you will be subject to a Q&A meeting with the public. i was threated over the phone, the coe had their phones tied up for three days about this from the greenies, the news papers start calling your house untill you go nuts! and ofcourse your local seirra club has to stire the public up with their flat out lies about what your doing and tresspass, trash build up, unbearable noise from your equipment, well you get the idea.... oh yea, i forgot about the vandalism thatll be done to anything that is not constantly watched/ gaurded! get the picture! but i learned a lot of info on what not to do next time i attemp to get my permit in missouri! i lost several of my mining buddies because they thought i should leave it alone. if caught, just tell them that you didnt know its against the law to do this!

[Quilomene John]

Russau, It appears that it is possible to get a permit in Missouri, but then these guys want to dredge and remove aprox. 1.5 million tons of material! http://www.mvs.usace.army.mil/permits/pn/p-2339.htm Perhaps if you didn't think in such small terms....LOL... QJ :D

[russau]

a sand and gravel permit is the easyest permit to get. i wish i had one of them dredges to "DO" the missouri river. id make the entire rear barge a sluice box. man you could have any and all of your equipment with you! hehehehehe.

[CP]

Been meaning to get a couple of these links in for Redpaw to add in for the Colorado section.

http://www.co.blm.gov/faqs/access.htm - BLM access to Colorado public lands
http://mining.state.co.us/rulesandregs.htm - Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology Rules and Regulations
http://water.state.co.us/pubs/rule_reg.asp - Colorado Division of Water Resources

I'm sure there will be more we find in time..... ;)
I will try to add the steps to file later.

CP

[Redpaw]

Thank you CP,
I would be more than glad to have these links added to the MRT Site.

I had a brainstorm over how to better form alliances and build the groups into a resource...I'm going bigger than I figured I could with this and will be posting the results within 2 weeks.

Major groups to sign onto the MRT !!....All it took was a little rest from the fight to see what was possible. I'll keep you informed.

I'll get the MRT Colorado page started tonight

RP