Rules For High Country Wilderness Areas and Dredging? Options

[peternemser]

Hello All Prospectors,

I am living outside of Vail and waiting for the snow to melt in the New York Range of the Swatch. I am planning on hiking to the highest areas that are remote and backpacking in a portable dredger... Yes this is going to be a lot of work. I am planning to hit an area way back in the Holy Cross Wilderness of the White River National Forest. It took me 18 hours just to walk too with a small backpack...

So my question to the forum is can I haul in a small gas powered dredge and dredge away in my prospecting? Can anyone reccommend a good dredging unit to fullfill my needs?

I view this as an extreme sport....

_peter

[CP]

Hi Peter,

Welcome to the forums. Make yourself right at home browsing the entire website.

There are a couple threads I can think of right off the bat that might help alot. Check out the "Wild and Scenic River Designation?" thread as well as "QUESTION: Dredging Laws in Colorado" thread. Then from there you might wish to look up a few more in the laws and regulations section once you've read the first two threads mentioned.

Sounds like you are definately in an extreme spot taking 18 hours to access it, but remember, prospecting is not classed as a sport, it's our right to prospect for and develop mineral deposits within our national lands. Sport type activity would fall into "recreation" and you definately want to act accordingly in the field or the officials will be happy to regulate recreational activities and send you home.

Good luck on your prospecting, stay safe out there.

CP