Message from Hidemi Kira, NFMS President:

To ALAA Members and Rockhounds in the Pacific Northwest,

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is holding a series of public meetings across the west to gather information on a proposal to withdraw lands determined to be crucial to the survival of the greater sage-grouse from location and entry under the 1872 Mining Law, subject to valid existing rights. The BLM is also extending the public comment period on the withdrawal proposal until January 15, 2016 to allow the Secretary of the Interior to collect additional information relevant to the decision on whether to withdraw these areas from the location of new mining claims for up to 20 years. An interactive map of the areas included in the proposed withdrawal is available at www.blm.gov/sagegrouse.

Attached is a sample letter prepared by our 1^st VP Jim Bosley for your use and edit as you see fit. Jim thinks each rock club needs to review the map of the proposed withdrawal areas and identify the specific area that they historically use for rockhounding and add to the letter.

Letters need to be submitted by January 15, 2016. The electronic address is included as well as the mailing address for the Director of the BLM.

Links

http://www.blm.gov/or/news/files/BLM_GRSG_Withdrawal_Scoping_PR_Final_Nov13_2015.pdf

http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/sagegrouse.html

Map of proposed areas

http://blm-egis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=45b2d7896c36467aac3990b739d75a26

Amount of letters will count, so please write as your club and pass this sample letter to your members for them to write as an individual.

And this affects a lot of small communities, so please try to get those community leaders in your area involved.

Thank you and Happy New Year!

This is notice of a proposal to withdraw 10 million acres from public access to mineral resources.  Action is required by December 14th.  The alert was passed on by owners of the Dust Devil Sunstone Mine near Lakeview, Oregon.

From: Terry Clark [mailto:dustdevil_terry@hughes.net]
Sent: Sunday, December 06, 2015 12:35 PM
Subject: Land Withdrawal

This email is to inform you of an upcoming meeting on December 14, 2015 at 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time at the Interagency Office in Lakeview, Oregon. This meeting is about the withdrawal of 10 million acres of public and private land in seven western states. This includes potential mining claims and will have a major impact on existing claims.

Existing claims will be allowed to stay however they will be severely limited. Existing mines will be limited to one mine every square mile with the allowed disturbance of only 1% (6.4 acres) in every 640 acres.

This withdrawal will cripple the western states in their ability to access and use their mineral wealth. The withdrawal of these lands also directly impacts and severely limits grazing, recreational access, as well as renewable energy development.

It is very important that you contact your local and regional representatives regarding this withdrawal before the end of the comment period of January 15, 2016. Please send your comments to the Secretary of Interior, BLM, USFS, Fish and Game, your Senators and Congressmen as well as your local county commissioners and town councils.

This withdrawal will make a large difference in local and national economies so we ask that you please look at the attachments and if you would like a full copy of the attached documents please contact:

choppa@blm.gov
503-808-6268

Contacts:

Oregon

US Senator Jeff Merkley
404 Russell Building
Washington DC 20410-3704
Phone: 202-224-3753
Fax: 202-228-3997

Here is word from Scot Jackson:

Cover of the book.

I have added a scanned copy of Mining in Eastern and Central Washington by L.K. Hodges, published in 1897 to this website.  Hodges travelled the mining camps of Eastern Washington at the request of the Seattle Times and sent back stories that were compiled in this book.  It includes diagrams of the workings of many mines, maps of their locations and descriptions of the mines.  WARNING:  This is a large file 100+ kb.  If you have a slow Internet Connection, you may want to avoid it.  I can print and bind a copy for you for $20.

There is a multi-day, multi-club field trip scheduled for June 20-24 to McDermitt Nevada and surrounding sites.  Mike Shaw has prepared a map for the expedition.  He writes: “Have people contact me by email so I can send them the following map and schedule: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=z9fQPbYZJAUs.kLT_hmjI02Uw.”  This is a great map and there is an article about the proposed trip in the May, 2015 Newsletter.  You can email Mike at mikeshawmoose@yahoo.com.

Schedule:

6/20/2015 Saturday All Day Travel to McDermitt, NV
6/21/2015 Sunday 8am Meet at the Large Group Campground and collect on the McDermitt Loop
6/21/2015 Sunday 7:15am Meet at the Say When Casino in McDermitt and collect on the McDermitt Loop
6/22/2015 Monday until 2 pm Free time to return to your favorite areas on the Loop to collect more of your favorite materials
2 pm until dusk Explore and collect at the Cordero Open Pit Mine and the Orange Agate area
6/23/2015 Tuesday 8am at Camping area, or Thunderegg collecting north of McDermitt, And/or go to the Amethyst Sage Site ($3/lb)
8:30 at McDermitt Casino
6/24/2015 Wednesday 9am Camping area Head back for home, with a stop a Glass Butte for Fire Obsidian and others. A stop at Hampton
9:30 at McDermitt Casino
Hampton Butte for petrified wood is also possible that day. Camping is available free at both
locations.
McDermitt Loop material Gary Green Agate(AKA Larsonite), Fortification Agate, Purple Cow Agate, Carnival Agate, Pet. Wood
Cordero Mine Lots of beautiful Red Agate, other agates, wonderstone and jaspers of all descriptons.
There is a deposit of Orange Agate nearby, also

At our meeting April 20 we voted to buy copies of Discovering Washington’s Historical Mines by Woodhouse, Jacobson and Pisoni.  There is an ongoing Internet discussion by people who explore the mines written up in these books.  You can reach it at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/NWUNDERGROUND/info

You may need to join Yahoo to see the content.

As mentioned in our April newsletter, here is a list of minerals and jewelry stolen near Coeur d’Alene:  Contact CDA Police 208-769-2300 case #15C08004 if you have any information.

Page two stolen stuff

Page 1 stolen stuff

Rob Repin, a friend of all miners who operates a mine just south of Liberty and a Central Washington University professor with a ton of knowledge and personality has this video online.  It is about an hour long about the history and geology of the Liberty Mine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBZfRJihdw&feature=em-subs_digest