This is a basic questionaire, feel free to tell it like it is.

Without your Opinion, How do we read your mind?

Yes I am willing to support a board. My interpretation of this is to, provide information as would others to this board. And then support there actions as taken. I personaly am not qualityfied in the right fields to set on this board. But there are those on this fourm and other fourms that are. And I would do what I could to share information with them and help to find answers. Joe

Redpaw, if you was my ex, you'd think you could!
Carl

i support anyone trying to help small scale mining. who would i vote for? how many people would be on the board? theres a lot of informed/active people out there now,give us a list of people that could/would be interested on being on the board. dave .k always has my vote! dan/denise s.would be another of my picks! matt mattson,gene wiley,mike highbee,leonard leeper, i dont want to exclude anyone, but the list is so big!

Instead of adding another board to fight for our rights, why aren't we trying to join all the groups together that are fighting for our rights? i.e. MRT, DEF, PLP, NLRL, and a dozen other groups/boards.
Unity means together. We can't be United if we are on a dozen different wavelengths. I really would like to see all the different groups come together and add their voices to one great group to do the main fighting.
I guess I'm rambling here. I hope you get my drift.

cowboy444

Redpaw, send me an e-mail to cowboy351(at)charter.net.

Cowboy,
We need a Board for the following reasons, there are a few groups that will not share information with any individual miner unless he or she has a board that was officially formed....

How's that for representing the mining community?....Too bad these groups will soon die off with that mentality as how are they supposed to get new people to work with them?...you can't take it to the grave.

"Too bad these groups will soon die off with that mentality as how are they supposed to get new people to work with them?"

Not to worry, Dave. The days of working in secret are done, as are the days of a central king filtering information and issuing edicts on what all miners will do or think or . . . If anyone wants to meet in secret and have a decoder ring and secret password . . . great . . . whatever half-baked idea that comes from all that can quickly be defeated with a few clicks of the mouse by simply exposing it to the miners, the press, etc., and it will quickly be taken care of. As long as the individual miner has the information on the issues, they really don't need anyone to tell them what to do or think -- legislation changed, rolled back, or scrapped in OR, Wa, AL, FL, VA, and some I've forgot by simply giving people the info on the issues and the means to act on it.

Where you do need a board, is in running an organization, setting internal policy, handling disputes and monetary matters, direction of the organization, etc. If an organization decides not to talk to anyone outside of organizations, they essentially form a cliche of high (in their minds) muckity mucks that eventually loses contact with the public. They have the right to do that, if that's the way they want to go -- but -- if they claim to speak for anyone but themselves, issue edicts that the "miners support" . . . go to officialdom claiming we represent "the mining community" etc., then there can be big problems because they've effectively shut out the very opinions of the people they claim to serve (key word: serve).

As far as MRT needing a board, it probably does need a board, but it won't run without a spark-plug and that's still you . . .

when it comes to spark plugs, dave is a high voltage, extended life, platinumn plug in my book! and he gets more bang for the buck!

Thanks Joe, all help will be greatly appreciated.
You listed some great folks Russ! It going to take many folks willing to make this work.
Great points you made Matt, I hear you. I just wish others would...sigh
The MRT is an organization that does not try to hide the info... and does try to educate the public so they can make their own "informed" personal decisions.
The MRT is a very needed organization.... Thats my opinion. :)

MRT. What will it take to make MRT a viable political action committe. First anyone serving on the board of directors should hold true in there heart that all citizens of this country have certain responsibilities as a citizen to resist over bearing gov that would infringe on the rights of man. Second. know your enemy as you know your self. Third. Be willing to be visible and know that education is a poor excuse for positive action. A board of directors with these kind of people would give MRT a chance in the political arena, and would bring more people recources to the front that understand this is a team effort. Then it comes down to leadership and will the membership do what is ask of them. This is my take on the MRT rokonrandy

Well said Randy. This is a slow process it seems. But one that needs attention. Joe

Can you explain to me a little better Randy? You lost me there.

A look at the history of the grass roots and the education based organizations we find very poor track record of defending the freedoms we were use to doing, and I use the words, use to do. A minor change in the status to political action enlarges the rules of engagement. The main concern a education based group has when they are engaged in the legislative process is to exceed the limited time for lobbying the legislature, A look at the next post here makes this all a mute issue. R

The wife drug me up and out of bed to make this post.....bless her heart.

I'm standing with PLP, no other..... and no club could make it without them. get out your books, your internet, your older members who know whose who in Fighting.

PLP across the board is everything I'm going to grow up and be....maybe one day I'll mellow out on calling sellouts to the table and get some diplomatic skills and be just like Jerry.....

naw, who am I kidding....I'm a cutthroat heathen who'll rip you a new ass if you compromise my rights to mine and settle for anything without thinking of the little guy who'll be affected just because he didn't join your little self promoting club.

Thank God PLP has always been there for many of clubs time and time again, some of these very groups who the PLP have helped have never said thank you or let alone shared info back as a like gesture shown to them....I say thanks to PLP and I say Join the Best, screw the rest.

PLP has answers, PLP has shown you they are winners...what are you going to show them?....

I would first like to thank RedPaw for the show of support that he has given PLP and myself.

I would like to address some of the earlier posts One post is correct in the fact that many grass roots and heavy thinking organizations do not normally last to long but that is not always true. I can say this about PLP, we are a true grass roots organization and we started with one project in one little area and have grown for 15 years to where we have addressed problems and lend help in every state of the union in that time. Our philosepy is not to compromise anyone elses rights, including our own, Many other organizations are week and will compromise anyones rights for a little freedom.

We are not strong on our webpage because the webmaster works long hours and the rest of the board, about 12 strong are busy on various issues but we are involved in resolving many of the miners and metal detectorist problems.

Besides our dailey problems with helping individual requests for assistance and information we are always doing legal work and passing it on to others that are involved in the fight, at no charge. The return for that energy spent is a poor a showing from other organizations that we help and is almost fully supported by the folks that are members and those who participate in our raffles and fund raisers. (individuals like yourself) A few of the small metal detecting and mining clubs do make a donations periodicaly. It takes a lot of effort to fund raise to get the money required for our court cases and legal researchers.

At this time PLP and Dee Stapp and myself are in three lawsuits and assisting on another and helping the Oregon miners with the DEQ problem and working with Washington miners for more than 2 years and Arizona on there strategy for getting fair regulations for dredging. Dee Stapp is on the BLM 43 CFR 3809 regulations lawsuit. PLP is working on the Interim Rule and Final Rule of the Forest Service 36 CFR 228.4 mining regulations and I am an Intervenor on the Syskiyou Regional Education Center vs the Forest Service. We are busy and have been for years. We talk to anyone that calls us and believe me that is alot.

We where very active in the 2 lawsuits that have been won for the miners in the last two years, that being US vs Lex and Waggener and the Terry McClure case. We have opened up areas for metal detecting that were closed in the past as far away as Florida.

If the miners and detectorist are not happy with what PLP has done that is one thing but if an organization that is fighting for all of the miners and detectorist can not get the finacial support from these two community's it is hard for me to understand how these two community's can support several other new organizations who may be starting to learn the ropes from scratch. The more the funds are divided the more close to demise the miners and detectorist are.

I felt compelled to address these posts and hope I have not offended anyone but maybe made it clear as to what PLP is doing and fighting for.

Thank You All

Jerry

Jerry, You Wrote:
If the miners and detectorist are not happy with what PLP has done that is one thing but if an organization that is fighting for all of the miners and detectorist can not get the finacial support from these two community's it is hard for me to understand how these two community's can support several other new organizations who may be starting to learn the ropes from scratch.

I understand the message you are trying to send, you're already overtaxed on time and always short on money and yet we have all these front groups starting up claiming to stand for everyone's rights and they don't have the mental resources, let alone the member resources to do half of what the PLP has done in their first start up year.

When the few of us started up the MRT, we didnt ask for cash to join, nor require t-shirts be bought, nor require a future payment for info gathered by our members to dispurse to others for a fee. We have however been sent on numerous occassions money to travel with and gas to get there....and we always hope to have our MRT people do this for us as we are always ready to be there for the fight.

The MRT is not a Front Organization for any other club or group, nor do we ride anyone's coattails in our fighting methods. We the MRT stand alone in most fights and keep the costs down by just getting the job done. We don't have Million dollar motorhomes in any of our driveways, in fact some of us don't have a driveway and/or a car ...and each of the MRT members actually own mining gear and use it.

We of the MRT think that if you're going to state you represent a group of specific outdoor recreation or professional activities that you should atleast own and use the equipment and be knowledgeable of the rules for the use of the equipment.

Jerry, you also wrote:
The more the funds are divided the more close to demise the miners and detectorist are.

I agree, so from now on, any excessive money or donations that are not needed to get from destination A & B and fight will be sent to you. I'll not help cut my outdoors rights by joining a new front group that will only divert funds from a fighters punch. Your track record speaks for itself, Your fight has always been to the heart of the matter, and your wisdom is worth paying for.

Citizen Dave

RedPaw

I certainly appreciate your support, but would not ask any group to run themselve short (except PLP) Ha Ha. However, I have been unable to determine how much my, or others rights are worth.

I know of MRT because of you and your hard work and vocal records, which by the way reminds me of the attitudes that our fore fathers had when they gained the freedoms that this country has and their crafting of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It would seem a shame to loose what we have been givin by them. I have no fear that MRT will weather the test of time because of that attitude.


There are some new kids on the block like Jeff that are learning to do the same thing and will become important to all of us in the near future.

The detecting community as well as the mining comunity and off road community is a big part of PLP's support and have been since our incepetion.

Thanks again for your support and understanding.

Jerry